Ferguson waits for Taylor diagnosis

The defender goes for an X-ray this week amid fears he may have broken his foot in Saturday’s dramatic Irish Cup win over Harland & Wolff Welders.

Taylor had posted a picture on social media over the weekend which showed him wearing a protective cast on his foot.

“It was so badly swollen that Johnny has had to wait until Wednesday to get it X-rayed,” said Ferguson.

“It certainly didn’t look good when he took his boot off in the changing room on Saturday but we’re hoping for more encouraging news.

“With only about eight weeks of the season to go, any sort of fracture would effectively mean the season would be over for Johnny, which would be a big blow for us.”

Meanwhile, Ferguson is relishing United’s Irish Cup semi-final against Portadown on March 21 after Saturday’s dramatic win.

“It’s completely different to last year where all the other semi-finalists were hoping to draw Queen’s University.

“This year we were in with the teams in first, third and fifth place in the league so it didn’t really bother me who we got.

“It’s a good semi-final line-up because you’re talking about four teams who could beat each other on any given day,” added Ferguson.

A meeting is scheduled this week to determine venues for both semi-finals and whether or not the fixtures should be designated as all-ticket ties.