St Mirren goalkeeper Chris Smith will be out for up to a year after he suffered a cruciate ligament injury.

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The 23-year-old will go under the knife next week after the problem was revealed during a squad trip to Spain after their Scottish Cup quarter-final win over Celtic.

"Chris will receive surgery next week for a cruciate ligament injury he has sustained," manager Gus MacPherson told the club website. "The early indications are that he could be out of action for up to 12 months.

"We're not really sure of how and when Chris picked up the injury. It came to light when we were in Spain when his knee gave way during a training session on the Friday before we came home.

"Once the surgeon has had a look inside Chris's knee, we'll have a far better idea of the extent of the damage.

"Chris is extremely disappointed, which is only natural. He had only recently got back into the team and now this injury has crept up on him but it is something he has just got to deal with."

MacPherson is confident Mark Howard can cover for Smith.

"We now have Mark and a couple of younger goalkeepers to back him up, I'm happy enough with that situation," he added.

"Mark had an excellent first half to the season but needed a rest, which gave Chris his opportunity but Mark is now back in and we have total confidence in him."