Raith Rovers boss Ian Murray admits he faces a difficult decision over the fitness of marquee summer signing Paul Hanlon.
The former Hibernian stalwart has missed both of the Stark’s Park side’s Premier Sports Cup outings so far with a hip issue.
However, after sitting out the wins over Stirling Albion and Stranraer, the 34-year-old returned to training with his new team-mates on Thursday.
Barring any repercussions, the Scotland cap will be included in the squad to face Ross County on Saturday.
But, with match fitness still required, it remains to be seen how involved Hanlon will be in Dingwall.
“Jack [Hamilton] trained on Thursday, which is good,” updated Murray after the striker was substituted before half-time in Tuesday’s 2-1 victory over Stranraer. “It was just precautionary for him, which was annoying.
“Paul Hanlon trained on Thursday. So if everything goes well over the next 48 hours then we should have a full squad, apart from Lewis Vaughan.
“Paul’s missed a wee bit now, enough that we need to try to get him some minutes.
Murray: ‘Have a look at it’
“We need to decide now what we do. Do we start Paul or do we bring him on?
“The two centre-halves, Callum Fordyce and Euan Murray, have done really well.
“But we’ve asked a lot of Dycey [Fordyce], in particular, since pre-season began, so we’ll just have to look at it.”
Raith’s trip north is a rematch of May’s Premiership final second-leg at Victoria Park, albeit in hugely different circumstances.
Their 4-0 defeat, and 6-1 aggregate loss, was not only a massive disappointment but also an eye-opener for Murray and his side.
As an insight into what is required for top-flight football, it was perfect.
“You always learn things from every game,” added Murray. “So we know how aggressive and physical Ross County are.
“And I know that is something Don [Cowie, County manager] wanted more of this season because he didn’t feel they were physical enough in the Premiership.
“So it shows our players where you need to be on that side of it.
“On the football side, we know we’re good enough, we know we can go up there and win the game.
‘Cause yourself big problems’
“But we can’t stand off County and give away too many cheap corners and free-kicks.
“If you do that against a team from the Premiership you cause yourself big problems.
“All the teams in the Premiership are the same – they’re not just big, but they’re fast and strong. They know how to use their strength.
“So, it’s something we’d have to definitely be better at if we made it to the Premiership. And we’ll have to be better at it this season.”
