St Pat's captain Joe Redmond is in real danger of missing their European campaign this summer.
Interim Saints boss Jon Daly has confirmed that the centre-back will be sidelined for a number of months.
But Mirror Sport understands it could be August at the earliest before the 23-year-old is back in action.
Redmond had surgery in London on a serious hamstring tear and was seen on crutches while spectating at recent games.
Daly said: “I think he’ll be months, a couple of months maybe. He’s started his rehab after the op and everything seems to have gone well.
“It’s now just the slow process of building that up. Hopefully he can get the foundations right, because that’s the most important part of any long term injury.
“Joe is a top player, a top professional. He’ll do everything he’s asked to do and more.”
St Pat’s will go into the first qualifying round of the Europa Conference League on July 13 and 20.
But Redmond is not expected to be involved and is likely to miss the second and third qualifying rounds if St Pat’s were to progress.
That third round takes place on August 10 and 17, with Redmond facing a major race against time to be involved.
But Daly knows the skipper will be pulling out all the stops to prove his fitness and return for key games.
“There’s no doubt if there’s a chance of him coming back early he will, because he’ll do everything that’s supposed to be done,” he added.
Redmond suffered the injury away to Drogheda United on April 10 and has missed managerless St Pat’s last five games.
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