Scott Hadden fears his playing days could be over after suffering a horror knee injury 10 minutes into his East Kilbride Thistle return.
The 33-year was on the comeback trail after knee ligament damage kept him sidelined for almost a year.
But on Saturday the midfielder's dreams of getting back to regular football turned into a nightmare when he twisted his knee during a 3-1 win over Vale of Leven at the Showpark and he had to be carried off the field.
The full extent of the damage is not yet known due to the swelling but Hadden - who had worked tirelessly to get himself fit again - is just hoping it doesn't force him to hang up his boots with another lengthy spell out of action on the way.
The gutted Jags star said: "I've seen a physio I know and he's pretty sure I've torn the ligaments in my knee again, but he can't tell the full extent of the damage right now because of the swelling.
"I'm going to get a scan to find out, but he's pretty sure.
"My plan was to get back playing games at Thistle and work really hard over the summer to put the work in to be ready for next season.
"But I need to keep my knee in a brace for a couple of weeks now.
"I've just turned 33 so I thought I had a few years left, but I'll need to see how bad this is and take it from there.
"It's just the worst thing that could happen. I will be out for a while.
"I don't know if I will make it back this time.
"It feels the same as when I first did my knee last year, but from what I've been told so far I might need an operation to have a chance of playing again.
"Chucking it just now is not something I want to think about, but it just depends how bad the knee is.
"Before the game the Thistle fans were saying it was great to see me back and they'd never seen me as fit, but any luck I've had recently, it's been bad luck.
"Hopefully I can get back into it."
It's a devastating blow for Hadden after embarking on a fitness kick that has seen him lose more than two stone through months of cycling, running and a healthier diet.
He was excited to get back involved at the Showpark and help Thistle see out their final few games of the West of Scotland Conference C campaign after his last injury blow.
Hadden, who has played under co-boss Alan Paterson in his previous spells at the Showpark, added: "The first game back after Covid last year we played Arthurlie and I did my knee in then. That was the start of May and since then I hadn't kicked a ball.
"I was in crutches for four four months and off my work after that and in September I really started working on my fitness and my diet.
"I managed to shift two-and-a-half stone and I was feeling really good.
"I'd been to a couple of training sessions with Thistle and I played the second 45 of a friendly against Bellshill last month.
"I was buzzing and it went really well, then on Saturday it all went wrong.
"I came on with half an hour to go and the first 5-10 minutes I was getting a lot of the ball, doing really well.
"But then a ball has come over my head, I've tried to turn and my knee has just crunched."
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