Livingston defender Ayo Obileye is set to miss the rest of the season.
However, Lions manager David Martindale believes that was a ‘best case scenario’ having originally feared he could be out for six months.
The 28-year-old defender picked up medial ligament damage just 20 minutes after coming off the bench during their recent 4-1 home defeat to Hibernian.
The former Chelsea youth player has been allowed to travel back home for a few weeks by the club during his recovery process, but could be fit it in time for the start of the 2023/24 season.
Martindale said: “He’s in a knee brace for six to eight weeks so we’ve said to get home and spend some time with the family before we start the rehabilitation.
“There’s really not a lot of work we can do with him over the next few weeks so he can have that time with his family down south.
“It was medial ligaments so he will be eight to 12 weeks. We’ll be looking at him in June.”
The Livingston boss added: “That was the best case scenario because it could have been cruciate ligament damage but it’s medial ligament.
“It’s a big injury but it’s not as bad as it could have been and hopefully he’ll be back in June.”
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