The 22-year-old’s appearances for Sons have been limited this season and Murray has conceded that he is not nearing a return to the first team. He has not featured since the 2-1 win over Raith in December when he picked up a hip injury.

Of his 17 Sons’ appearances this season, only four of those have come since November. Murray has revealed that his current problem has been difficult to manage and he doesn’t know when Kirkpatrick will return.

He said: “He has an injury that is quite hard to manage. He isn’t quite ready to play under-20s yet and he’s going to need maybe two or three games at that level anyway to get back fit.

“It is his hip, so it is quite a strange area to get injured. He could probably play at a push but until he is training consistently we won’t put him in.

“The diagnosis is difficult because it is a hip, the scans don’t always show up the problem.

“So you have to go on how the player is feeling, sometimes he feels great and other days he isn’t so we have to try and keep him involved when we can.

“It was a totally innocuous challenge against Raith in December and it has turned into a long lay-off for him.”