Ross County suffer double injury blow with Will Nightingale and Max Sheaf set for extended spells out of Scottish Premiership action
Ross County defender Will Nightingale has been hit by another injury blow - and is unlikely to kick a ball before Christmas.
The unlucky Wimbledon AFC centre half, now on his second year in Dingwall, was crocked in the build-up to County’s narrow defeat to Celtic before the international break.
That followed a six-week lay-off for the 29-year-old from late August with an ankle issue.
Manager Don Cowie is cursing the defender’s luck, despite being satisfied by his current rearguard’s displays of late.
Cowie said: “Unfortunately we will have no Will Nightingale for a period of time.
“He got injured leading into the Celtic game, and has had an operation.
“He will be out for 8-10 weeks.
“I’m really disappointed for Will. He proved last year how valuable he can be to this club, and that’s why we were really keen to get him back for the new season.
“He has not had much luck – it was something very innocuous in training. He felt something in his knee with nobody around him.
“After getting a second opinion, he needed an operation.
“I’m disappointed for him and also because it coincided with us putting young Dylan Smith out on loan to Arbroath, which we felt was important.
“On the positive side, Ricki Lamie is back in full training now and will offer extra cover in that position.
“I would imagine after this weekend, Ricki comes into contention.”
Midfielder Max Sheaf, who hasn’t kicked a ball yet this season, has also suffered a fresh blow.
Cowie said: “Max Sheaf had been back in full training for quite a few weeks.
“He wasn’t ready in terms of participating for the first team, because he was going through that process.
“He has just had a setback, not with the same injury but in a similar area in the thigh.
“That has set him back maybe four to six weeks.”
Between the two recent international breaks, County picked up five points from four games, with Cowie happy with performance levels.
Results included victory over Dundee, draws home and away to St Johnstone and Hearts and a hard-fought 2-1 defeat to Brendan Rodgers’ side in the Highlands.
Cowie stressed: “I think we have been really competitive in the previous block of games that we had.
“We could have had more points to show for the performances, but at the same time it was a really tough spell we had in terms of the opposition.
“We played really well against Dundee and got a good home victory, and went right to the end against St Johnstone to make sure we got something.
“In the last two games, we were really close against Hearts and Celtic.
“I’m really happy with where we are as a squad. I think we have improved since the first international break, and now it’s about kicking on in this next period.”
St Johnstone host County this weekend and Cowie is ready to counter the boost Saints could draw from the arrival of new manager Simo Valakari.
He said: “With that new manager feeling in the stadium, and the feel-good factor, they are going to look to start the game quickly.
“We need to be prepared and ready for that. As always, we try to start fast ourselves.
“I have been really happy, as we spoke about our away form not being what we would expect, with the amount of points we have taken.
“We have proven this year already, going to Motherwell and Hearts, we have taken two really good points from those games.
“The next bit is now getting those three points. It won’t be easy, but it’s something we need to strive for.
“It’s a big period coming up. We’ve got five games until the next international break.
“There is no easy game in this league. I think that has been proven time and time again.
“Yes, maybe on paper it looks slightly easier, but we take nothing for granted and get ready for the best version of the opposition we are going to face.
“Then it’s up to us as a group to really attack what we’ve got coming ahead, and try to what we have done at the start of the season.
