Queen of the South’s experienced midfielder Paul Burns requires knee surgery before he can get his season up and running.
The 30-year-old has been told he requires a small tidy-up operation that will rule him out for a further month.
Manager Jim McIntyre said: “It is disappointing Paul’s injury did not clear up as we had hoped. The only good thing now is that we are working to a definite timetable and know when he will be back.”