Kyle Lafferty's start to life at Johnstone Burgh couldn't have gone any better. 

The veteran striker bagged a brace on his debut for the West of Scotland Football League side two weeks ago. 

The former Rangers, Hearts, and Kilmarnock forward drew in the crowds as Johnstone ran out easy 4-0 winners at Renfrew.

However, things have taken a turn for the worst with the former Northern Ireland international facing a period on the sidelines.

Lafferty is expected to be out for at least six weeks after being injured in his second game for the club.

Boss Jamie McKim initially thought the ex-Ibrox hitman had ruptured his cruciate ligament in the 2-1 win over Drumchapel last week.

There were serious concerns that Lafferty would require surgery and could even be out for the season. 

However, scans have revealed that he only suffered a partial medial tear and is expected to return to action around mid-September.

McKim told the Scottish Sun: “Kyle is in a knee brace to take the weight off his knee, but he should be out for six weeks maximum. He doesn't require an operation which is a huge boost.

“It was a real worry when it happened initially. My first reaction was that he could be out for the season. 

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“But, thankfully the results of the scan showed it was not as bad as we first feared.

“It is still hard to be without him for over a month but that is a much better scenario than a whole season.

“It did not look good when he got hurt against Drumchapel and everybody was thinking the worst. Mercifully that wasn’t the case.”

Glasgow Times:

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