Ross County have been handed a double injury boost with Liam Fontaine back in contention and Jamie Lindsay’s ankle injury not as bad as first feared.
Defender Fontaine had been sidelined for four weeks after breaking a bone in his arm during a Betfred Cup tie against Dundee United, but returned in Wednesday’s 7-1 victory over Invergordon in the North of Scotland Cup.
Concerns were raised when Lindsay was stretchered off during County’s 3-2 loss to Hibernian on Sunday, however after seeing a specialist in midweek, the midfielder is facing a maximum of one month on the sidelines.
Staggies co-manager Steven Ferguson is encouraged by both developments, with County taking on Morton in the Championship tomorrow.
He said: “Jamie is not as bad as we first thought. There were two possible scenarios with his ankle and, thankfully, it is the lesser of two evils.
“It is good news. The physio said three to four weeks, but Jamie, of course, is saying one to two weeks.
“It was important we got Liam some minutes on Wednesday and lucky we had the game. He got through that fine.
“He’s been back training for over a week now and we just needed to get him into a game environment with real contact. Sometimes in training it can be masked a wee bit because people know he is recovering from an injury.
“He got through it absolutely fine and he is as fit as they come. He had earmarked this coming game for his return with the advice of specialists and this is the game he is back for.”
County have sent attacker Greg Morrison on loan to Elgin City, while midfielders Dylan Dykes and Russell Dingwall are available for temporary deals. The Staggies will also listen to offers for forward Ryan Dow.
Ferguson added: “It is all about game-time. You can’t have guys training as hard as they are without the opportunity to play, the carrot at the end of it.
“Goalposts change between the start of pre-season, the end of pre-season and where we are now, three or four games in.
“The dynamics of the group change bringing in a couple of new strikers and that’s pushed Greg down the pecking order.
“Stuart and I feel that he hasn’t quite done enough to get into our thoughts for the first team at this time. The best thing for him is to go out and play games and gain experience in the SPFL.”
