Tony Docherty haș confirmed that Scott Fraser is set for an operation and he will be joined on the sidelines at Dundee by Ziyad Larkeche.
The midfielder has struggled for fitness in recent weeks but now the medical staff have got to the bottom of his groin issue. They hope after surgery that he will be back in action in about a month. Docherty also admitted that on-form full-back Larkeche also injured his hamstring at Aberdeen and will face several weeks out.
The Dundee boss said: “Scott Fraser is going for an operation but the good news about that is he should be back quickly. I don’t want to put a timescale on it, but he’ll certainly be back for the fixtures when I’m at Christmas. I’m really frustrated for Scotty because you’ve seen when he came into the team, particularly against Motherwell, you know how positive an impact he had on that.
“So for him to then pick up this, what you would call a chronic injury in his groin or something like that, was really, really frustrating for the player. It was also frustrating for me because I thought he’d get a wee head of steam up.
“But medically, we’ve got to the bottom of it. We’ve addressed that and hopefully, as I say, within a four-week period, I’m hoping he’ll be back and he’ll be contributing as he did previously.”
On-loan Queens Park Rangers defender Larkeche has been one of Dundee’s most effective players and will now return to his parent club for treatment.
Docherty added: “The bad news is Ziyad went for a scan. “The scan has shown that he has damaged his hamstring. So he’ll be out for a period. Which is a blow, because I think he was doing fantastic.
“He’ll go back to his parent club and he’ll get the treatment that he needs there. But we’ll be looking into the new year for him. He was really, really improving and developing as a player. When we first embarked on the loan arrangement with him, similar to the ones we’ve done previously, it was all about his improvement, his development.
“I think he’s shown that in his contribution to most recent games. So, disappointed for the boy. But what it does is it creates opportunities for others.”
Winger Julien Vetro collapsed before the recent win over Kilmarnock. He has returned to Burnley for tests but is expected to return soon.
“He is back at his parent club,” Docherty confirmed. “He is back at Burnley and is still getting tests done. I am waiting for word back from Burnley when he will be back but it won’t be long.”
Dundee captain Joe Shaughnessy is also making progress after a serious knee injury and so is keeper Trevor Carson who also has a knee issue. The positive for Dundee is that Finn Robertson is back and fit after being stretchered off at the end of the Aberdeen game with a nasty leg gash.