Cash strapped Sevco are hopeful of landing a £1m lifeline with the sale of Lewis MacLeod.
The 20-year-old is in talks with Brentford over a move to the Championship with some reports claiming that he will undergo a medical later today.
With £1m at stake the medical is likely to be especially thorough with MacLeod suffering a number of injuries in recent seasons with his last appearance coming in the 3-2 Petrofac Training Challenge Cup defeat at Alloa on December 3.
MacLeod has made just 50 league appearances- all outside the top division- and feared that his career may be over until a virus was detected relating to muscles around his heart.
“A lot of people, even the doctor himself, admitted it could have been the end,” he revealed during the summer.
“It started a couple of months into last season. I was feeling tired but I put it down to the fact I was playing regularly and didn’t think much about it.
“But as it went on, I got more and more tired and in the couple of weeks before I finally stopped playing, I was getting knackered in the first half of games.
“That was when I sat back and said that something might be wrong. When I came off against Arbroath I felt faint and dizzy. I had tests done and they were low. Then the second test showed that I wasn’t getting better and that underlined it.
“There wasn’t any diagnosis, really. It was just a viral infection that affected the organs.
“The doctors and physios and everyone were great but, at the same time, they couldn’t tell me, ‘Look, this is what’s going to happen and you’ll be back in six months’. It was just a waiting game to see the results come back.
“It was a frightening time but I did well to try to put it to the back of my mind. I didn’t really think about it but then my cousin asked how I’d feel if the results didn’t go according to plan.
“It was scary but I didn’t want to put in my head what I would do if I couldn’t play again.
MacLeod has been a long term fan of Brentford with the lure of teaming up with Davie Weir and trebling his £800-a-week wages too much to resist.
Looking back at his injury history he added: “Pals and everyone around me helped. My family, the manager and coaches and especially the doc and physio because they took a lot of their own time just to keep me sane and keep me going.
“I went down to Liverpool and they tested me there a couple of weeks after the Ramsdens Cup Final. The doctor here then said this is your rest, just take it then come back in. This is me just getting back to full pelt.
“It’s like a second chance. Thinking about the fact I might not have been able to play again makes me appreciate it more. It made me realise what I have here and that I need to grab the opportunity with both hands.”
Newcastle were reported to be interested in MacLeod but the club’s coaching staff were unconvinced that the midfielder was ready for top flight football.
Brentford have been offered any Sevco player on loan but have limited their interest to MacLeod.