Motherwell have been dealt a further injury blow with news that Tom Sparrow will be out for at least a month.
While boss Stuart Kettlewell says his injury list is easing in other areas, the 21-year-old Welsh midfielder will be out of action for several weeks.
The former Stoke City star was crocked in the first minute of Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Ross County, and Kettlewell says it’s a blow for a player who was finding his feet in the first team.
He said: “We’re going to be without Tom Sparrow, who sustained an ankle injury in the first minute of the game on Saturday, as it turns out.
“We reckon, based on the scan, that he’s going to be out for a minimum of a month, which is a real blow.
“He has obviously pitched in with a couple of goals this season, getting himself up to speed, finding himself in our team, and it’s a bit of a disappointment, that one.
“It’s a bigger disappointment for me when you see the challenge, or lack of challenge, that resulted in the injury, which is way worse than Lennon Miller’s challenge when he intercepted the ball and got booked on Saturday.
“It was a very similar situation that’s looked upon differently, because Tom’s the type of lad that just bounces back up and gets on with the game.
“I know that opens up a wee bit of a can of worms, but you can see my frustration in it, that I don’t think it was a foul, but neither did I think Lennon’s was.
“Tony Watt missed out last weekend, he took a back spasm whilst we were up at the hotel, but he’s back in training and hopefully he will be available for the squad as well.”
Kettlewell hopes to get some big players like Stephen O’Donnell, Paul McGinn and Callum Slattery back for the turn of the year.
He said: “We hope, come December into January when it’s a crazy fixture schedule, it’s chaotic, and I’m definitely going to need more than 12 or 13 players, there’s no doubt about that.
“We’re working towards trying to get as many of these people up to full speed.
“I will always trust the medical staff, sports scientists and the support staff that I have round about me, as well as experience, in seeing people being out for extended periods of time.
“We do have a plan for every single one of these guys, a reasonable understanding of how many sessions they need to get in, and what period of time they need to work through, before you can start to consider them for games.
“But trying to get starts and bounce games is imperative, chucking someone in at the deep end in a Premiership game can be a big ask on the back of just training.
“That’s going to be a difficult balancing act, there’s no doubt about that, but some of the guys who are coming back, that we know aren’t ready for a squad, and ready to be selected to start, are looking good.
“Guys like Callum Slattery, Stephen O’Donnell, Paul McGinn, Sam Nicholson, and several others, will have a big impact on what we can do, but we need to keep them there until the end of the season.”
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