St Johnstone boss Callum Davidson has his fingers crossed that Ali Crawford will not be sidelined for too long.
The midfielder on loan from Bolton impressed again during Saturday afternoon’s 3-1 victory against local rivals Dundee.
But he was forced off in the second half after hitting the turf and early indications are that Saints are dealing with a torn groin.
“We think Ali has torn his groin, so we will have to wait on it settling down before we know how long it’s likely to keep him out for,” Davidson said.
“It’s really disappointing because he’s been excellent since he joined us.
“He stepped in at the right time when Craig Bryson, Cammy MacPherson and Murray Davidson were missing, despite not having played much. And I felt he was getting better and better. So hopefully he won’t be out for too long.”
The comfortable win over Dundee was the perfect way for Saints to enter the international break.
“When you look at the players we’ve been missing you’d have to say that this last month has been a positive one for us,” Davidson said.
“I’m really pleased with how the boys have reacted to a tough August. We’re now starting to see goals and wins. Saturday’s performance and result was a great way to go into the international break.
“We felt hard done by in the Hibs game and we used that as a bit of motivation against Dundee.
“Aberdeen was probably our worst performance but we got a win that day. On the whole, I’m really pleased with our performance level.”
Another positive was how well the Perth defensive three of Shaun Rooney, Efe Ambrose and Lars Dendoncker performed.
With Liam Gordon and James Brown injured, and Jamie McCart suspended, they stepped up to the plate.
“If we’d had four defenders out last year, we’d probably only have had one left,” Davidson said. “We were very fortunate that Jamie, Jason and Liam rarely got injured. It was something we looked at.
“Seeing how we did without any of those three for the first time was the most pleasing thing for me, with Lars making his debut.”
