GAZ SHOCK AT FRENCH CROCK
GARY BOWYER admits Tyler French will be a big loss to Dundee after the defender had surgery on his broken leg.
The 23-year-old suffered his horror injury after just eight minutes of the Dark Blues’ Scottish Cup tie against St Mirren in Paisley on Saturday following a tackle on Alex Gogic.
French was given oxygen on the pitch before being stretchered off and rushed to hospital with Dundee ultimately losing the game on penalties.
Dens boss Bowyer has now revealed the former Wrexham centre-half has had an operation and faces a possibly lengthy spell on the sidelines, starting this evening in the SPFL Trust Trophy quarter-final with Dunfermline.
The Dens boss said: “Tyler has come out of his operation, I spoke to him at 1pm and he’s in good spirits.
“The operation was successful, it was a clean break and the doctors will see how he gets on overnight. We have to thank St Mirren and the hospital for how they have been with Tyler, they were all fantastic.
“He will be a big loss to us because he’s been one of our stand-out performers.”
Dave Mackay has urged Dunfermline to get over the hurt of their Scottish Cup exit by reaching the semis of the SPFL Trust Trophy.
The Pars crashed out of the cup agonisingly on penalties at the weekend after an impressive display in a 1-1 draw with Championship hosts Partick Thistle at Firhill.
Assistant manager Mackay admits there is no time for self-pity as the Fifers prepare for their twice postponed quarterfinal against Dundee in the Challenge Cup.
He said: “The players have got to be upbeat. There’s no point in feeling sorry for ourselves. We’ve got a game to look forward to, a quarter-final against another team who’ve just been put out on penalties.”