Hearts fans can breathe a sigh of relief as confident Robbie Neilson insists Beni Baningime won't be out long-term.
But he IS set to miss the Jambos' trip to face Celtic on Thursday night.
The former Everton midfielder was carried off late on in Saturday's 2-0 victory over St Mirren and Neilson was initially hopeful that he would be fit for the Premiership showdown at Parkhead.
However, Baningime is set to miss the trip to Glasgow's east end as well as Sunday's visit to Livingston, with the Jambos boss hopeful that the damage to his key midfielder is not too serious.
He said: "Beni is getting scanned today so it doesn't look like he's going to be available for Thursday or the weekend.
"He's still walking about but we thought we'd get it scanned as a precaution because he wouldn't be ready for the game on Thursday.
"It's not going to be a long-term one, I don't think."
It means he'll have to find an adequate partner for Australian enforcer Cammy Devlin. Aaron McEneff could be an option as a more advanced midfielder while Andy Halliday could also step in but Peter Haring, who replaced Baningime on Saturday, is perhaps the likely choice.
Neilson likes to rotate his forward line and Josh Ginnelly, Barrie McKay, Gary Mackay-Steven and Ben Woodburn will all be competing for the two spaces either side of Liam Boyce.
Defender Taylor Moore returns to the squad after serving his suspension for a red card against Motherwell.
Predicted Hearts line-up
Hearts squad revealed
Craig Gordon
Ross Stewart
Michael Smith
Stephen Kingsley
John Souttar
Craig Halkett
Andy Halliday
Taylor Moore
Alex Cochrane
Cammy Logan
Finlay Pollock
Peter Haring
Aaron McEneff
Cammy Devlin
Jamie Walker
Ben Woodburn
Josh Ginnelly
Gary Mackay-Steven
Barrie McKay
Armand Gnanduillet
Liam Boyce
