East Kilbride were caught up in a goalkeeper crisis at Motherwell that saw Matty Connelly recalled from his loan as emergency cover on Saturday.
But boss Mick Kennedy reckons the young shot-stopper will be back at the club this midweek and expects him to be between the sticks for the Lowland League visit to Bo’ness on Saturday.
Motherwell were left with no fit keepers 24 hours before their trip to Easter Road with Aston Oxborough injured and Krisztian Hegyi recalled from his loan by West Ham, which led to Connelly being on the bench in the capital.
But Kennedy insists the K-Park club haven’t been caught up in a whirlwind and says Connelly is a huge part of his squad, having secured a loan extension to the end of this season.
Kennedy said: “I don’t think it will be weeks, I think he will be back in the middle of this week and he won’t miss any games.
“Motherwell were caught out at the last minute with the boy Hegyi wanting to go back to West Ham, who was on loan, but I spoke to [Motherwell boss] Stuart Kettlewell on Friday, and I think we’ll have that resolved by the middle of the week.
“Matty is so integral to the way we play, just with the ball at his feet and it’s important that we secured him until the end of the season.
“It should be fine, I don’t see there being too many issues.
“I think because Matty has had such a good six months that brings wider attention, and I know there were other clubs above our level who were interested in him.
“But because he’s playing every week, and has had such a good six months, Matty wanted to stay until the end of the season, which is important for us.”
Kennedy added: “It’s massive that he wants to stay. Technically, with the ball at his feet, he’s as good as anybody in the whole country, so it was important that we kept him, and we’re delighted.
“I would assume by Wednesday or Thursday, Motherwell will have everything sorted at their end, hopefully, and then we’ll get him back.”
A frozen pitch saw Kilby’s home game against Cumbernauld Colts called off, but that gave Kennedy a chance to head elsewhere.
He said: “I watched Bo’ness, they won 2-1, but East Stirling scored in the last minute.
“It’s an away game at a difficult place to go. We’ll be respectful, prepare properly as we do every other week.”