Hamilton Accies have been dealt a blow with news that defender Brian Easton is out for months after undergoing ankle surgery.
Chairman Allan Maitland expects the 32-year-old to be out of action until October, having gone under the knife to clear up a troubling injiury.
However, he says now is the ideal time for the former Burnley and St Johnstone star to get it sorted out.
Maitland said: "Brian Easton has had an ankle operation, he will be out of commission for three or four months, so we'd hope to have him back in October.
"That's a blow, but these things happen and they might as well happen just now, so Brian has had an operation.
"Everybody else at this stage is fine, but we're expecting a couple of injuries once we start training and playing, so we have some trialists in as well, and we'll see how that works out."
Meanwhile, staff and players will undergo Covid-19 testing at Accies today as they prepare to return to training on Wednesday.
It's an unusual way of returning to action, and Maitland said: "Players are coming in for testing today. It's not something we've ever done before, and it will be interesting.
"The staff are getting done at lunchtime and then the players will get done this afternoon. I'm sure they're all looking forward to that, but we're all just dying to get back to it."
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