Dundee United’s Ross Graham will go for a scan this week but Jim Goodwin is confident they got him off early enough to limit the damage to his hamstring.
The defender suffered the injury in the weekend win at St Mirren, where he had to limp off just before the hour. Graham has been a big player for United in recent weeks and Goodwin is keeping his fingers crossed that he can get him back to full fitness for the Hibs game after the international break. The United boss confirmed: “We’re hoping Ross’ injury won’t be anything too long. He came off the park at a good time and didn’t have to play through it. We’ll get the results of a scan at the early part of the week. We are hoping some of the boys will recover over the international break. It has certainly come at a good time for us.”
Striker Louis Moult missed the Premiership win in Paisley, as did Kristijan Trapanovski who also has a hamstring issue, while Ryan Strain is also coming back from long-term injury. Goodwin admitted: “Losing Louis Moult before the game was a major disappointment after scoring two goals in our previous two games.
“He got a bang on his right knee in the game against Kilmarnock. We gave him every chance possible, but the game came too soon. Fingers crossed Moulty will recover in time for the next one.
“That’s the bit we are struggling with at the moment – the lack of strength in depth. We’ve got Ryan Strain out, (Kristijan) Trapanovski, Louis Moult – all key players.”
Goodwin usually likes to keep his team ticking over with a bounce game during the international break but with players away and injuries he has decided not to take any risks this time around. The likes of David Babunski, Richard Odada and Jort van der Sande are amongst the full internationalists away, while United also have a number of players called up at under-21 level.
The United boss stated: “We just don’t have the personnel available to us this time, unfortunately, with injuries to Moult, Trapanovski, Ross Graham. We would have liked to have a friendly behind closed doors but it’s just not feasible when you factor in the amount of players we have away on international duty as well.”