Motherwell defender Stephen McManus faces a six-week lay-off after being told he needs surgery.

The centre-back went off inside five minutes of Motherwell's 2-0 defeat at Celtic last Saturday, after pulling up when he played a through ball, and he will have an operation on his groin next week.

Left-back Steven Hammell is a major doubt for Saturday's Ladbrokes Premiership visit of Dundee after dropping out in the warm-up at Parkhead because of a hip problem.

But Motherwell will have right-back Richard Tait and midfielder Carl McHugh back from suspension against Dundee and substitute Zak Jules recovered well from giving away a penalty at Celtic Park.

Manager Mark McGhee said: "We feel as if we have a strong squad because people like Joe Chalmers and Allan Campbell have stepped up a wee bit and are more able to play in the first team.

"We feel we have a stronger squad to cope with that loss than we did at the start of the season."