Peterhead co-manager Ryan Strachan has admitted he could look to bring in a new forward with Kieran Shanks set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
Shanks suffered a broken collarbone in the Blue Toon’s heavy 5-0 defeat to Queen’s Park in their Premier Sports Cup group opener.
On as a second half substitute, the former Inverurie Locos and Arbroath attacker landed awkwardly in the 64th minute – and Strachan revealed the injury could force them into the transfer market.
Speaking before the injury was confirmed, Strachan said: “It does not look good.
“We will wait for the diagnosis from the hospital before jumping to conclusions, but it does not look good for him.
“It could be a broken collarbone.
“We will need to evaluate it and get the medical report then see where we are at with Kieran.
“But he will be a big loss for us, of course.”
Peterhead ‘severely punished’ for ‘mistakes’ by Queen’s Park
Shanks’ injury compounded a bad afternoon for League Two Peterhead, who were ruthlessly exposed by the Championship Spiders.
For chunks of the game, the Blue Toon showed up well against their opponents from two tiers above, but the scoreline did not reflect how they performed.
Strachan continued: “I feel sorry for the boys, but we have still lost 5-0 and that is totally unacceptable.
“However, if we are to take the positives from the match, then I thought we did OK.
“The levels of the Championship have really punished us after making a couple of mistakes.
“But speaking with their manager after the game, it is a harsh scoreline.
“We were on top for periods of the game, but we never scored and we were severely punished.”
From Peterhead’s bright start, debutant Cieran Dunne tried his luck with an effort which flashed wide before Peter Pawlett stung the palms of Callum Ferrie from 20 yards.
Queen’s Park took time to settle and after Zak Rudden produced a great save from Stuart McKenzie, the former Dundee forward made no mistake in the 30th minute by sliding home Roddy McGregor’s cutback.
Peterhead were still dangerous on the break and impressive work from Max Barry allowed Ben Armour a sight at goal, but Ferrie pushed the shot behind for a corner.
While the Blue Toon were wasteful at times, the away team were clinical, and they doubled their lead on the hour mark when McGregor neatly slotted past McKenzie.
In a bid to get back into the match, Peterhead continued to press, but they were caught on the break with 10 minutes remaining when Dom Thomas set up Zach Mauchin, who gave McKenzie no chance.
The Spiders pounced twice more in the closing stages when a misplaced Dylan Forrest header landed at the feet of the handily-placed Liam McLeish, before the scoring was complete in stoppage time when Jack Turner’s cross was turned into his own net by Jason Brown.
It was a tough start to competitive action for Peterhead, who continue their Group C campaign next weekend at home to League Two rivals Elgin, ahead of trips to League One Kelty Hearts and Premiership Hibs.
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