Luckless Motherwell keeper Trevor Carson faces a minimum of three months out with a knee injury.
Scans have shown the Northern Irish international suffered a meniscus tear in the weekend win over Ross County.
The 32-year-old has now been told he is unlikely to be back fit until January at the earliest.
It is a devastating blow for Carson as he has had to battle back from deep vein thrombosis, which threatened his career.
He lost the top slot at Motherwell and was out for almost 18 months before he regained the No. 1 spot again this summer.
It is a major setback for the Steelmen to lose a second goalkeeper to injury.
Back-up Scott Fox suffered a cruciate injury and is already out for the season.
Stephen Robinson brought in free agent Aaron Chapman and he is likely to get the gloves in the short-term, starting with the weekend trip to Livingston.
It remains to be seen if Motherwell will bring in another goalkeeper or there is the possibility of recalling PJ Morrison from his loan spell at Falkirk.
Manager Robinson said after Saturday's game: "We need PJ [Morrison] to play games and he’s going to be a very good goalkeeper. Hopefully, a No.1 in the future.
“But that was the decision to bring Aaron in just in case Trevor did go down. Now it’s a case of do we need another one depending on what happens with Trevor.”
