Ross County manager Jim McIntyre is confident Gary Woods will fill the void after goalkeeper Scott Fox was ruled out of the League Cup final due to a knee injury.
Fox, a summer signing from Partick Thistle, played a key role in County reaching the final with a penalty save from Celtic attacker Leigh Griffiths in the semi-final victory.
But an injury suffered in the Staggies’ 3-0 loss to Dundee United on Saturday means Fox is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
McIntyre said: “Scott has damaged his medial ligament so he will definitely be out for a number of weeks. How many is still up for debate, we need to get it scanned and see what the damage is.
“It’s a huge blow. He’s picked up two injuries this year and they’re longer-term, rather than a week or two. He’s been really unfortunate. He’s done really well for us but we’ve got a good goalkeeper in Gary to come in.
“It happened at the second goal. I think it was a collision with Chris McLaughlin.
“Gary did exceptionally well earlier in the season. He’s had to be patient because of Scott’s form but I’ve got no doubt about him.”
McIntyre will decide whether to bring in another goalkeeper once he knows how long he will be without Fox.
He said: “Mark Foden will be on the bench at Kilmarnock and once we know the severity of the damage, we’ll assess whether we need to bring anyone in. But it’ll be difficult at this stage of the season.”
Fox’s absence comes as County try to bounce back from their poor display against United on Saturday when they make the trip to Rugby Park tonight.
McIntyre was disappointed by the showing at Victoria Park and wants to see a reaction from his players at Killie.
He said: “Any time we have a poor result – and we know exactly why we didn’t win the match – it’s a great chance to bounce back quickly. It’s up to us to put on a performance.
“We’ve done well against Killie and we want to continue that. They’ve got a new manager and players scrapping for the cause and it will be a difficult game.
“It’s vital for us to stay in the top six by getting the three points. Every team has something to play for.
“One or two results either way mean we could be dragged into it, or move forward. It’s a crucial couple of weeks coming up.
“We’re on cup duty next week so it would be great to get Saturday out of our system by picking up three points.”