Hamilton Accies boss John Rankin has revealed star striker Andy Ryan will be sidelined for 2-3 months due to injury.
The 27-year-old has scored three goals in his first five games this season, but suffered a knee injury during Accies' 1-1 draw with Morton in July, in which he scored.
In a big blow to Rankin, the extent of the injury is such that their talisman could be out of action until October.
He said: "Andy will be out for 2-3 months. He got a fracture on his patellar, but fitness-wise he is fine.
"Andy Ryan is a huge part of what we are trying to do. He is a real leader of players for being someone still in his 20s.
"He drives standards, he understands the game and it's a huge loss for us.
"It's one of those ones where we need Chucky to go away and when he does overcome that, he makes sure he is ready to go again and make an impact on the team."
Rankin is not actively looking for a replacement, having brought in French forward Jean-Pierre Tiehi from Fulham on loan earlier this month.
But he does believe adding to his defensive options is more likely.
He added: "We need strength and depth.
"When we saw Shaun [Want] was suspended last week [for the 2-2 draw at Ayr], we had a bit of an issue covering the backline so I think it's important we strengthen there.
"That's one we are actively looking to get in but how long that takes, I'm not sure.
"We haven't pinpointed a particular guy to bring in but that is something we will be looking to do in the next fortnight."
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