Ross County manager Don Cowie admits it is ‘worst possible news’ regarding attacking midfielder Noah Chilvers’ ACL injury following defeat to Aberdeen
Ross County manager Don Cowie admitted it is the “worst possible news” regarding Noah Chilvers’ injury.
The attacking midfielder missed the Staggies’ 1-0 defeat to Aberdeen, which was only decided by a phenomenal solo strike from Dons winger Shayden Morris.
County announced on social media that Chilvers, who has made 32 appearances across all competitions since signing on a free transfer from Colchester United last summer, had picked up an ACL problem, and Cowie confirmed after full time that the prognosis is not a good one.
“I sat here earlier in the week and spoke about how healthy the squad was, but it was a reminder of how quickly things can change,” Cowie admitted.
“Noah has been a real talisman for us, and it was a nothing coming together in training on Thursday morning.
“He got a scan on Friday, and last night we got the results which was the worst possible news.
“He has a ruptured ACL, so his recovery starts today in terms of making sure he’s right mentally for the path he’s going down over the next couple of months.”
As for the match itself, Cowie did not feel there was much between his side and the eventual victors.
Coming out on the wrong side of the result, then, was frustrated – but the Staggies boss knows his side need to be more clinical in front of goal if they want to be the ones celebrating after similar matches in the future.
“There was a lot of effort and endeavour, we just didn’t create enough opportunities,” he reasoned.
“We had enough set-plays and territory at times, and we didn’t make the most of that, which is frustrating. Then we get done by a real moment of quality from an Aberdeen player.
“You always look at what you can do better as a team, but we all know in Scottish football that he possesses real pace and can hurt you. At the end of it, he comes up with a fantastic finish.
“We had plenty of set-plays and balls into the box, but we’re not quite anticipating it. We need to look to improve on that, because we haven’t scored in our last couple of games at home and historically we have been good here.
“We have to improve, and we have to get better. We need to create more opportunities.
“We were in good areas for that to happen, and the conditions were challenging with the wind but we needed to have that extra bit of composure at times to create chances.”