Kettlewell rues injuries as County visit Morton

By Ross County co-manager Stuart Kettlewell hopes his side’s exertions against Hibs last Sunday in the Betfred Cup do not have a backlash when they visit Morton today.

Marcus Fraser, Stelios Demetriou and Jamie Lindsay picked up knocks as County went down 3-2 in injury time in Edinburgh and are set to miss out.

Sean Kelly and Iain Vigurs are rated as doubts and Kettlewell said: “It was disappointing to lose so late and it is even more disappointing to pick up injuries. This game would be a tough test with a full squad, let alone a depleted one.”

Morton boss Ray Mckinnon may resist the temptation to unleash summer signing Denny Johnstone despite the one-time Celtic and Birmingham City striker scoring twice in a midweek reserve match.

Johnstone has not featured since joining from Colchester due to a knee injury and Mckinnon said: “He is not fully ready yet.”

Third-placed Ayr host Dunfermline and manager Ian Mccall is not getting carried away by his side’s 3-0 Betfred Cup success at Dundee. He said: “You are only one game away from a good run ending so we need to keep our focus.” Inverness manager John Robertson will make changes for the visit of Alloa after being unimpressed by his side’s display in their 2-1 Irn-bru Cup defeat by Dunfermline.

He said: “Some players were knocking on my door to get a chance. They got one and never took it. They will not be involved.”

Partick Thistle boss Alan Archibald has warned his side they face a Dundee United side looking to build on their recent 2-1 win at Queen of the South. He said: “They will be looking to add another win quickly. Tannadice is a very difficult venue.”

Queen of the South manager Gary Naysmith has been doing his homework on hosts Falkirk .He said: “Falkirk have a lot of players who have come up from England. A large part of this week has been spent hunting down what information we could find on them.”