ST MIRREN boss Jim Goodwin has finally had some postivie news on the injury front. 

The Saints boss looked set to be without Lee Hodson for an extended period of time after the Gillingham loanee picked up an injury in Saturday's Scottish Cup draw with Motherwell.

The blow came just 24 hours after the club revealed Ryan Flynn would be out for the season after suffering cruciate ligament damage. 

But, thankfully for Goodwin, it has now been confirmed that Hodson's hamstring complaint is not as bad as first feared. 

Hodson, however, will miss the next 10 days and it leaves Goodwin with a defensive headache after unexpectedly losing Kirk Broadfoot and Paul McGinn towards the end of last month’s January transfer window.

The Gazette: The Saints had feared the worse over Lee Hodson's injury The Saints had feared the worse over Lee Hodson's injury

He said: “Hodson's isn't as bad as we feared at the time. We thought it was a tear but he came in on Sunday and we are relatively pleased with him.

"Wednesday might be too soon but we don't anticipate it being longer than a week or ten days.

"We've not been carrying much luck, to lose Kyle Magennis to a cruciate, then Flynn a week later to the same injury is a horrendous blow to the two boys and for us as a squad.

"We brought Lee Hodson in as cover knowing he could play right-back or left-back and to lose him at the weekend was a bitter blow.

“But, hopefully it's not anything too major. We keep thinking Gary McKenzie is getting back fit then something else happens, so Wednesday's too soon for him." 

Goodwin has had to put square pegs in round holes due to several injury issues and getting his signings in late at the start of the campaign.

The Irishman also had similar experienced and frustrations in his first managerial post at Alloa Athletic with a limited squad numbers.

Goodwin continued: "I had one year at Alloa when I had to play a centre-forward in midfield and a right-back at centre half.

"Unfortunately when you're at certain clubs you're not blessed with a budget that allows you to carry 25 to 30 players.

"We are unfortunately a little light on numbers due to where we are with the budget, but that's fine." 

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