Dungannon Swifts boss Rodney McAree gives Thomas Maguire and Rhyss Campbell updates ahead of Loughgall clash

The 20-year-old Larne loanee has been in sensational form this season, scoring 17 times in all competitions – including nine in the league – but was carried off at the weekend having won a first-half penalty for his side.

Only four players have netted more in the Premiership this season than Lusty, who entered Saturday having scored seven in his last six outings, and contributed a brace when Dungannon defeated this afternoon’s opponents at Lakeview Park a month ago.

"We think Matty has damaged his shoulder – we think he could have broken it,” said manager Rodney McAree. “We will do what we have to do as a club and make sure he gets the best possible care and get him sorted.

"He has been fantastic. His run for the penalty and his touch was brilliant. It’s disappointing for us as a club but more so for Matty and our thoughts are with him. We want to make sure he’s alright.

"We’ll still be a club come Boxing Day and still have a match to take part in and Matty is the one who suffers, so we’re thinking of him at this stage.”

Lusty joins a growing injury list at Stangmore Park, which includes the likes of Thomas Maguire, Niall Owens and club captain Chris Hegarty, while McAree will also be without defender Caolan Marron after he was shown a straight red card on Saturday.

Summer signing Maguire hasn’t made an appearance since mid-November and Rhyss Campbell, who is one of the club’s brightest talents, has been out of action since April.

"Thomas will probably be out for another three or four weeks (with an injury to his lower stomach),” added McAree. “We have scanned him and it's nothing significant, so it's just a case of getting on top of it.

"We just need to make sure we get it right before we bring him back because that can lead to seriously long-term, so we need to get it right first and foremost.

"We're missing big players in Niall Owens, James Knowles, Ethan Devine, Thomas Maguire, Christopher Hegarty - we've a lot of good players that you could call upon, but it's the same for every club. Everyone has injuries at this stage and we have to deal with it and move on.

"Rhyss is another one. Hopefully (he will play this season) and Rhyss wants to play this season. It'll not be a rush for him. February would be the earliest that we could see Rhyss."

McAree feels if his squad can correct a bit of “naivety” that they’ll be more than capable of climbing the table.

"We go into Tuesday with a little bit of positivity,” he said. “We're a good side with good players, but we have to knock that naivety and silly mistakes on the head.

"There is a little bit of naivety with us as a group of players with the goals we concede and if we can get over that and turn it into a bit of determination and know-how, I think we could be in a hell of a lot better position.

"If the points were handed out after 45 minutes I think we’d be sitting on something like 39, which is madness.”