St Mirren’s Charles Dunne Sidelined for Eight Weeks with Tendon Injury

St Mirren’s defensive line faces further challenges as defender Charles Dunne has been ruled out for eight weeks due to a tendon problem, meaning he will be unavailable until after Christmas. Manager Stephen Robinson is already contending with the absence of wing-back Jaden Brown, who is currently under club investigation after admitting to three separate driving offences, and centre-half Alex Iacovitti, who is recovering from a long-term injury. The Paisley-based club also ended Kevin van Veen’s loan agreement earlier this week following his court appearance on domestic abuse charges. Additionally, wing-back Shaun Rooney departed the club by mutual agreement in October after an assault charge. Robinson commented on Dunne’s injury, stating, “We had a blow with Charles, we had him re-scanned and looked at and he’s going to be out eight weeks with a tendon injury, which is a big, big blow to us obviously with losing defenders for numerous reasons. We’re down to the bare bones in terms of centre-halves and obviously Jaden’s still not available and we’ve lost the other two players as well.” He further elaborated on the team’s situation, saying, “The defensive positions are a concern for us at the moment, but other than that, injury-wise people are coming back to fitness in the forward areas and midfield areas. We’ll be very light in defensive numbers between now and Christmas.” Compounding the team’s issues, midfielder Caolan Boyd-Munce is also an injury doubt ahead of Saturday’s match against Hibernian. Robinson described the current period as exceptionally challenging, adding, “It’s probably been the most difficult period of my management career.” He reflected on the unique nature of these difficulties, stating, “It’s things that they don’t teach on the Pro Licence (course), I have to be honest with you. I think they need to rewrite the book on how to teach managers.” The manager emphasized his approach to adversity, noting, “You learn, you cope with it, you deal with it. The way I look at it is I deal with the people that I can deal with and I’m in control of.” He expressed confidence in his squad, asserting, “We’ve got a fantastic bunch of boys here that are fighting and scrapping for each other.” Concluding his remarks, Robinson conveyed his philosophy on overcoming setbacks: “Bad luck can continue forever. So we don’t believe in that, we believe in working hard and overturning that bad luck.”