Steven Gerrard’s admission that Leon Balogun’s injury is potentially more serious than initially thought and will require a scan gives some insight into why the Nigerian international had a less than impressive match on Wednesday.

Of course, we don’t know exactly when the injury was sustained, but Gerrard’s insistence post-match that his removal was just precautionary suggests it may have been one the stopper was already carrying, a minor niggle, and the decision (probably mutually made by player and manager) to play him midweek has backfired.

Indeed, he was certainly not at the races and Callum Hendry took him to the cleaners inside the first 5 minutes, something he didn’t recover from, and now he’s got an injury.

It does reveal a different angle on why he wasn’t quite at his best in that one, but the consolation prize for Stevie is the form of Filip Helander.

The competition has pushed the Swede, the introduction of Balogun, and now the ex-Bologna stopper has a chance to show his worth – his second half cameo was certainly very good indeed, but the question is how will he handle Lyndon Dykes on Sunday.

Either way, we hope Balogun isn’t out too long, and it’s not too serious.

Because, prior to St Johnstone, he was looking very good indeed.