Tony Docherty has confirmed that two of Ross County’s players who went off against Celtic B will miss the trip to Raith Rovers this weekend – but three more remain in contention.
There were major concerns among the Staggies faithful watching the KDM Evolution Trophy victory over the young Hoops on Tuesday night as five players appeared to be forced off with fitness issues.
Nicky Clark, Dean Cornelius and Miller Thomson all appeared to be struggling when they were replaced, while Alex Iacovitti and Ross Docherty were making their first starts after injuries and went off.
Nicky Clark is set for a spell out injured after being taken off on Tuesday. Picture: Ken Macpherson
Ben Crompton was also carried off in stoppage time after County had used all of their substitutes.
However, Docherty says only two of those players have already been ruled out for this weekend’s visit to Kirkcaldy, with further assessments due to take place regarding the rest.
“Nicky Clark has been for an X-ray and he’s suffered a really bad ankle injury, so he will be out for a number of weeks,” he revealed.
“Dean Cornelius has picked up an adductor injury, which is a bid of a head scratcher so he will be out for Saturday.
“The other players we are monitoring. Hopefully Ben’s injury is not as bad as we first thought, it was a knee-to-knee thing, which is sore but it is something you can recover from.
“If I knew what was causing the injuries, I wouldn’t be sitting here, I’d be a magician. The club are looking into it, we’ve spoken to people.
“Akil Wright, for example, to get an injury. He never gets injured and Dean Cornelius, it’s a bit baffling. Sometimes in football, you go through wee periods like this.
“We’re going through that right now, so it’s important that everybody gathers together and we do as much as we can.
“We missed an opportunity last Saturday against a team round about us in the league. We now have another opportunity against a team near us in the league and we need to try to maximise that opportunity as best we can.”
Clark and Cornelius will join existing absentees Akil Wright, Josh Reid and Sean Mackie on the sidelines alongside longer-term injury concerns Noah Chilvers and Andrew MacLeod.
Of that group of players, MacLeod is closest to a return, with the intention being that he will return to first-team training next week.
The 20-year-old broke into the senior squad last season, but has been ruled out of action since February, meaning Docherty is yet to work with him first-hand in training.
As an academy graduate in Dingwall, though MacLeod will likely get a groundswell of support from the stands whenever he is ready to return to action, and Docherty is keen to make the most of the talent coming through at the club.
“I’ve watched footage of him playing, but I haven’t seen him out there,” Docherty said of Macleod.
“I’ve also seen young Jamie Williamson in this period, and it’s important to get your eyes on these boys.
“Jamie has really impressed me, and I’m sure Andrew will be the same from the footage I’ve seen of him.
“It’s so important to have these academy graduates, because they are the lifeblood of the club.
“We have good young players coming through at the moment. They can be inconsistent but it’s important to realise you have to work with them.
“Myself and Callum (Davidson) have that background, so take Dylan Smith for example – we’re working with him every day to try and improve him.
“The ones who are coming through are the ones where it’s important we keep them progressing, and we keep improving and developing them.”
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