United boss Steven Pressley confirmed at his Tuesday press conference that midfielder Arthur Gnahoua faces a long road back to recovery from a hamstring injury picked up during the second half of the away victory at Port Vale at the end of last month.
Gnahoua, 26, had joined the Blues just five days prior to the trip to Vale Park and had taken to the grass for the first time for his new team when he replaced Liam McCarron during the half time break.
27 minutes into the second half physiotherapist Neil Dalton was called onto the pitch to attend the nippy wide man as he pulled up with what was clearly a problem.
Subsequent scans on the hamstring confirmed Gnahoua's worst fears and also highlighted that surgery, completed yesterday [Tuesday], would be required.
“Arthur will be missing for quite a long period of time and that’s a real blow for him,” the manager confirmed. “As a player coming in you want to make a very positive start, but he’s going to be out for some time.
“He’ll have his rehab to go through as well, so it is a long period out that he faces. I’m just really disappointed for the boy.”
Having signed on a short-term contract, keeping him at the club until the end of the current season, further bad news followed when the Carlisle boss revealed that Gnahoua may well struggle to make another appearance during this campaign.
“At this moment in time even that is a doubt,” commented. “It’s a real major blow for him but we’ll look after him in the best way we can. Our physio Dolly is first class and he’ll make sure he gets the right rehabilitation.
"We’ll make sure that regardless of what happens this summer he’ll be in a position to either come in and prove his worth here, or he’ll be in a position where he can go into another club in very good condition.”
Meanwhile Macaulay Gillesphey’s knee operation was completed last week, with the defender already back at the club undergoing the initial stages of the rehab process.
“He’s had his operation and the procedure went really well,” Pressley said. “Macca seems in good spirits, he’s happy with how it went, so that’s good news.
“We expect him now to be out for six to eight weeks, but it always comes down to how quickly he recovers.”