John Robertson remains hopeful of keeping Kai Kennedy at Caley Thistle until the end of the season.
The teenage winger has impressed on a loan spell from Rangers, however with his future up in the air at Ibrox an extension to his temporary deal cannot be rubber-stamped.
Kennedy is out of contract at the end of the season and the Premiership leaders want him to sign a new deal before agreeing to him staying at Inverness.
Caley Jags boss Robertson indicated the club had spoken to Rangers again this week about Kennedy, with them reiterating their desire for him to stay in the Highlands for the remainder of the campaign.
Robertson said: “We spoke to Rangers on Wednesday and they’re very keen for him to stay. They’re still talking themselves with Kai about a contract and we’ll have a chat with him over the next couple of days to get his thoughts.
“He’s a young lad who’s come up to Inverness in the middle of a pandemic. It’s not like he’s been able to socialise with the players, go out with them for a pizza or go to their houses. It’s been a difficult time for the young lad but he’s handled it superbly well.
“We’re very keen for the lad to stay, Rangers are keen for him to stay. A few things need to be ironed out with his future before that’s decided but we’d be delighted if Kai was able to play until the end of the season.”
Kennedy came on against Dunfermline on Wednesday night, with Aaron Doran ruled out for at least two weeks with concussion.
Robertson felt Doran’s situation – he came off at half-time against the Pars – highlights the need for concussion substitutes.
He added: “The moment Aaron went down holding his head the referee should have stopped the game, he didn’t, he waved play on and asked Aaron if he wanted treatment. Aaron said no but had a ringing in his ears.
“That is where I think we need to have dialogue with the referee and medical officer because any type of head knock Aaron has to be assessed. He played on for five minutes and we asked him how he felt, five minutes later he couldn’t feel his hand and felt a numbness so we asked him to sit down.
“The doctor gave him the relevant checks for concussion, he felt Aaron passed those checks but wanted to reassess him at half time because he is under pressure from the referee on the pitch to get the game going again.
“At half-time he was still feeling numb in his hand which the doctor didn’t think wasn’t to do with the head knock. But he still had ringing in his ears and felt light headed, so we weren’t taking any chances and replaced him with Kai Kennedy.
“He went to A&E and they felt he was OK to be released. But the club doctor reassessed him again, he felt post-match concussion came later therefore he is ruled out for two weeks minimum as he still had headaches.
“The protocol is quite simple, he has had some sort of concussion so he will be assessed every day by a club doctor. Once there are no headaches then he has to spend 7-10 days before he can start playing again.
“Once he is headache-free it is seven days before he can train and then after three to four days of training before he is eligible to play again. It is the right thing to do but it raises the question the referee should have allowed the doctor on earlier despite Aaron saying he was ok.”
