St Johnstone captain Kevin Rutkiewicz has suffered another setback in his comeback bid after being forced to miss Tuesday's behind-closed-doors friendly against Dunfermline.

Defender Rutkiewicz, who sat out the start of the campaign with a knee injury, had been hoping to make his first appearance of the season in Saturday's Clydesdale Bank Premier League game with Rangers.

But the chances of that were scuppered by a back injury, while a knock in training on Monday saw him miss Tuesday afternoon's 2-2 draw at McDiarmid Park.

Goalkeeper Graeme Smith, who has also yet to play this term, had to pull out of today's game for a similar reason.

There was good news for fellow long-term injured midfielder Kevin Moon and Peter MacDonald - who scored against the Pars - but fellow forward Steven Milne (ankle) is no closer to a return.

Manager Derek McInnes told his club's official website: "Unfortunately, Graham and Kevin picked up knocks in training yesterday and so couldn't take part today.

"Steven Milne is not responding to treatment and I think he will be out for the next couple of weeks.

"Martin Hardie and Filipe Morais are both carrying knocks from Saturday but I expect them to be able to train on Thursday or Friday."