Ross County forward Alex Schalk is set to receive a course of injections to help him return from his knee ligament injury after next month’s international break.
Dutchman Schalk limped off in the latter stages of last Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Rangers at Ibrox, after suffering the injury as he stretched to challenge Light Blues defender James Tavernier.
Schalk underwent a scan on the injury this week and, although he will be forced to sit out County’s next two games against Hearts and St Johnstone, Staggies manager Jim McIntyre is targeting a return for the attacker in the Dingwall side’s game against Aberdeen at Pittodrie on October 15.
McIntyre said: “It was just as we expected – a grade 2 medial ligament injury.
“Alex will visit a specialist in Leicester where we will see if we can get him back a little bit quicker by undergoing some injections.
“But everything, structurally, in the knee is intact and everything is good, so it is exactly what our physio first thought it was.
“We are probably looking at Alex returning after the international break. He’ll miss the next two games, looking at it conservatively.”
With Schalk absent for tomorrow’s game against Hearts at Tynecastle, McIntyre is confident leading scorer Liam Boyce can pick up from where he left off, having missed the game against Rangers due to a back spasm.
McIntyre added: “It was obviously a big miss for us last week at Ibrox, losing our top goalscorer and the player of the month.
“It is important we have as many options as possible and Liam has been doing fantastically well this season.
“It is great for Liam to receive the award. He recognises the part his team-mates play but he is in a confident place. When a forward is like that, he becomes such a threat.”
McIntyre brought on 18-year-old forward Greg Morrison in the latter stages against Rangers and the Staggies manager has hinted further opportunities will come the way of the Elgin-born attacker, adding: “Greg got 10 minutes at Ibrox and obviously had a bigger chance of that with Liam being injured, but he certainly merits his place in the squad.
“He’s been on the bench the last few weeks and trains with us every day now.
“He’s stepped up. He still has a lot of things to learn. He’s very raw but he has good attributes – very strong and is a good header of the ball.
“He provides that different option for us. The most important thing with any young player is he’s willing to learn. Greg takes on information and wants to get better.”
