He should be able to start his rehabilitation in a matter of days and could even be back in action before the end of the month, though boss Jocky Scott was remaining cautious.

“I’ve still to get the detailed report from the surgeon, but I’ve spoken to Maros and he says everything went fine,” said Jocky.

“The problem was with a couple of floating bodies in his knee and they’ve been cleaned out. That means it should be four weeks at the most that he’s out for and that’s good to hear.”

Going into hospital today was defender Dave Cowan and the Dark Blues already know his groin surgery will mean it’s into 2010 before he is back fit.

“There’s a muscle that’s come away from the bone, so we are looking at 12 weeks before he will be back with us,” confirmed Jocky.

Cowan’s absence means the only central defensive cover for Gary MacKenzie and Jim Lauchlan right now are youngsters Kyle Benedictus and Chris Casement.

While there is nothing imminent, that leaves the possibility of the manager using one of his emergency loans to plug the gap between now and the January transfer window.

This morning, several players missed training because of a bug that’s hit Dens over the past few days.