Nathan Patterson has joined fellow defender Kieran Tierney in being an injury doubt for Scotland’s World Cup play-off semi-final with Ukraine.
Everton manager Frank Lampard says right-back Patterson’s season is “possibly” over after a training-ground injury that requires surgery.
It follows Monday’s news that Arsenal’s Tierney is “not looking good” after a knee injury picked up with Scotland.
“Nathan Patterson will be out for certain period of time,” Lampard said.
“He will have a small operation on his ankle later this week.”
Having impressed for Scotland in friendly draws with Poland and Austria, Patterson had been due to make his first Premier League start for Everton against West Ham last weekend having only played 45 minutes for his new club since the 20-year-old’s big-money January move from Rangers.
Tierney also played in both recent games for his country, but a report suggests he will have surgery later this week that will rule him out for the rest of Arsenal’s domestic season.
After he missed out against Crystal Palace at the weekend, club manager Mikel Arteta told Sky Sports on Monday: “He came back from international duty and felt something wrong in his knee.
“There is some damage there. We will hopefully know more on Tuesday, but it’s not looking good.
“He is seeing the specialist on Tuesday and we will know more about the extent of the injury, but the feeling that he had wasn’t really positive and what the scan showed either.”
Scotland are expected to face Ukraine in their delayed semi-final in early June.
Ukraine’s visit to Hampden Park, originally set for last week, was postponed because of Russia’s invasion of the country.
The winners of that game will face Wales in a one-off game to reach finals in Qatar that start in November.
While Patterson has only recently usurped Motherwell’s Stephen O’Donnell as first choice, 24-year-old Tierney is a fixture in Steve Clarke’s side, usually playing on the left side of a back three with captain Andy Robertson of Liverpool at left wing-back.
