Ross County midfielder Chris Burke will miss tomorrow’s Premiership trip to Dundee, with the former Scotland international continuing to toil with a viral infection.
Burke has been sidelined for County’s last two games due to the illness and has not played since the 4-2 win against St Johnstone on November 19 when he played despite suffering from a kidney complaint.
The 33-year-old had made an impression after joining County on a free transfer in September after being released by English Championship club Nottingham Forest in the summer.
County are still trying to get to the root of the problem but manager Jim McIntyre said his club will be cautious.
He said: “Chris had his final scans on Wednesday and we’re waiting on results from that. He’s been feeling better, but having good days and bad days.
“It is a viral thing so there’s not really a timescale on the problem. That’s frustrating for everyone concerned.
“Last week he came in and he was feeling awful. The next day he felt a bit better, but he needs to wait until it is out of his system before he starts training again or else he could set himself back.
“We’ve just got to be guided by the doctors. Chris had been doing fantastically well, but it’s an opportunity for somebody else.”
Captain Paul Quinn and midfielder Martin Woods are nearing a return, with both players given a 50-50 chance of playing in tomorrow’s Dens Park encounter by McIntyre.
McIntyre is confident former Aberdeen defender Quinn will be refreshed following his absence of more than a month with a hamstring injury.
McIntyre said: “He’s been looking good. This is the first full week Paul has done with the team. He’s been out for more than five weeks now so he’ll need a game or two if we can afford him that luxury.
“It’s great to have him back in and around the squad with no adverse effects so far. We wanted to get him back to his level. Paul put the team before himself and we were prepared to let that happen, but when the injury got to a stage where it was starting to affect what he could do in games we took the decision.
“He’s worked extremely hard in the last five weeks to strengthen that whole hamstring area and, touch wood, that’s him and he’ll have no problems through to the end of the season.”