PETERSHILL have been rocked by a horrendous injury blow after top-scoring frontman Stephen McGladrigan revealed he will not play again until the New Year.

The fleet-of-foot 30-year-old has not featured since innocuously pulling up with a knee injury when the studs on his right boot caught in the ground running on to a through ball during the Euroscot Eng Cup semi-final win against Rob Roy at the start of last month.

His pain and discomfort continuing despite a number of treatment sessions sparked a visit to a specialist whose initial diagnosis reckoned a tidy up of his cartilage area might be required and Glad’s determination to be fit in time for the Euroscot Cup Final tilt with Vale of Clyde in just over two weeks saw him willingly go under the surgeon’s knife last Friday.

But this further examination of the joint has revealed a tear in his cruciate ligament and now the former St Roch's, Ashfield and Rutherglen Glencairn hitman will undertake an operation to repair the damage (the second of his playing career) tomorrow morning.

He was understandably downcast last night but nevertheless insisted he fully expects to make a return to playing action in early January … amazingly just three months from now.

The prolific marksman revealed: “Apparently there’s a new reconstruction technique in cruciate surgery which drastically reduces the recovery period and doctors are telling me that three months is achievable if I’m prepared to work at it.

“The unfortunate aspect is having to miss out in the the cup final against Vale of Clyde and, of course, this week’s Glasgow derby clash with Pollok at Newlandsfield which means so much to our supporters.

“It’s been a bit of a happy hunting ground for me in the past and I was looking forward to the game but hopefully there can be another time.”

Peasy gaffer Willie Patterson reflected on the long term loss of his highly valued hitman in saying: “Glad was back training a matter of six weeks following his previous cruciate ligament surgery so he’s well capable of getting back sooner than expected.

“It’s disappointing to rule him out of our plans particularly as he and Michael Daly had shown signs of forming a really potent partnership prior to his injury, but his absence opens the door for Scott Davidson and our Queen's Park loan signing Ryan Hynes to prove they can step into the breach.

“Another option is to promote Chrissy Craig further forward, however he’s been looking the part playing in a more withdrawn role so I’m loathe to rock the boat in terms of how we’ve been lining up in games.

“That said, we’ve been a bit up and down performance wise … outstanding in the second half when beating Shettleston 3-1, but absolutely dreadful when losing 4-1 away to Auchinleck and I’m keeping fingers crossed we can show our better side in facing Pollok.

“I’m happy with our squad and believe the players are very committed to the club and each other so it will be interesting to see how they respond and come together to deal with Glad being sidelined.”

Patterson watched his city rivals in last weekend’s 2-1 defeat by Hurlford and reckons they were unfortunate to take nothing from the game.

He insisted: “There was precious little to choose between the teams and Pollok looked well worthy of a draw until an injury-time free-kick led to Stewart Kean pouncing to net a last-gasp winner.

“I’m sure Tony McInally and his players will be hurting after putting so much into the game and no doubt they will be fired up to make amends against ourselves so we have prepared our guys for a tough 90 minutes.

“Glad is not our only casualty for Newlandsfield because Kieron McAnespie is also unavailable on Saturday and indeed for next week’s West of Scotland Cup tie with Talbot so his combative presence will be sorely missed.”

A debilitating back strain resulted in Lok striker David Winters not being risked against Hurlford, however he is tipped to return to a side that will be minus classy left-back Mark Sideserf who is facing the prospect of a lengthy spell out of action with a knee problem of his own.

He bemoaned: “I’ve escaped injury most of my playing career but have become something of a magnet for sore knocks ever since moving to Pollok.

“First there was an ugly eye injury sustained in a pre-season game with Newtongrange Star and now I’m hobbling on account of a heavy tackle by a Hurlford player.

“He got off lightly by being red carded because chances are I’ll be unable to play for 4-6 weeks at a minimum and I find it soul destroying to miss out on big game occasions against the Peasy this week and then my former club Irvine Meadow in the West of Scotland Cup.”

In other top-flight affairs taking place, early season shock troops Shettleston will be hoping to take something from their trip into Ayrshire to meet Kilbirnie Ladeside whose near neighbours Beith host the visit of Glenafton and will themselves be seeking to get back on the rails following last week’s 7-2 humiliation by Medda.