ATHLETIC face an anxious wait over an injury sustained by star midfielder Matty Todd during Tuesday’s night’s win over Annan Athletic.

The 22-year-old was helped from the field during the first half of Dunfermline’s 4-0 Viaplay Cup success after sustaining an ankle injury in a challenge, with boss James McPake stating that “fingers crossed it’s not a lengthy one”.

An assessment on the full extent of the problem was scheduled to take place yesterday (Wednesday), but McPake said that if Todd is to face a spell on the sidelines, it won’t force an acceleration in his recruitment plans.

With Kane Ritchie-Hosler missing the start of the campaign, also with an ankle injury, which required surgery, some Pars fans have expressed concern that the squad needs some more additions ahead of the Championship kick off next month.

Of Dunfermline’s six substitutes on Tuesday, including Andrew Tod, described by McPake as “excellent” when he replaced Todd, four were teenagers coming through the club’s academy.

When asked if Todd’s injury meant that recruitment would become more pressing, the manager said post-match: “Again, that will be dictated by the scans and what we find tomorrow.

“I couldn’t possibly stand here and make any kind of statement that had any element of common sense, let alone truth, if I had to say ‘yeah, because Matty has gone over on his ankle, we need to go and sign three players’. We will assess Matty in the morning and dust that down.

“We know where we are short in terms of what we want but, like last season, we are not just going to go out and sign people for the sake of signing people, to say that he can come in and do a job, or he is alright and he can come off the bench for us.

“We want to improve this squad. The squad is good. Hopefully Michael O’Halloran and Chris Hamilton will be in for Saturday. Chris definitely will be in, but Michael has a bit of tightness.

“We are not going to take a risk with him. His load has elevated in the last couple of weeks, from training himself training every day. You get these wee things, so we were never going to risk that, particularly the way Michael plays.

“So, hopefully, those two come back into the squad on Saturday, and hopefully Matty will be there as well.

“He has never really had a bad one. He had a couple of surgeries last year, but it wasn’t really through injury, apart from maybe taking too many elbows in the nose.

“I’m hopeful that Matty will be okay.”

Despite the disappointment of losing Todd, it was otherwise a good night for Dunfermline, who moved to the top of Group F with five points after their second match in the section.

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They host top flight Kilmarnock, who defeated Annan on Saturday before having a free midweek, this weekend knowing that a win could put them within touching distance of reaching the knockout phase.

“Yes, it probably puts us back in a position we are quite used to,” McPake replied when asked if the Annan result can give the Pars momentum going into the Killie clash.

“It is a team that’s used to winning. Yes they are back on that and we have another Premiership test coming here on Saturday. Kilmarnock will be up for it, we’ll be up for it,” McPake continued.

“Derek McInnes is a fantastic manager, and he will have his team ready to go, because he will be desperate to get through as well. On paper, it has the looks of a good game, but we feel in a good place.

“We will have Chris back, hopefully we will have Michael back in the squad as well, and the squad will be a bit fuller. With a bit of luck, Matty will be there.

“The momentum is there. We are still on the back of a decent run; okay, St Pauli beat us, but they were good though!

“We are in a good place and we are happy with how things are going.

“We are aware of what we need to do to improve the squad but, like I said, it has to be quality over quantity, and that’s the way we will do it.

“I’m sure everyone will see that, stand by us on that, and support us with that because they want to see good players in the black and white strips on out there.

“There are things going on in the background, but that’s my go-to answer all the time.”