Raith Rovers boss Grant Murray remains hopeful that striker Calum Elliot will not be sidelined for a prolonged period of time after picking up a knock at the weekend.
Just days after extolling the virtues of having a fully fit squad for the first time this season, Murray will definitely be without Elliot for tomorrow’s trip to Hibs following the forward’s injury setback at Alloa and is awaiting news of just how much damage has been done.
“You get a full selection for two weeks, I think it was, and then you go and pick up and injury!” bemoaned the Raith boss yesterday.
“It’s difficult to say just now how long he’ll be out for.
“He’ll miss Saturday, that’s a definite, but we’ll get a better idea when the swelling goes down.
“It was early in the game, he went over on his ankle and their big centre-back landed on him.
“He says he felt okay, but after half-time it started to stiffen up after 15 minutes of being inside and then coming back into the cold.
“You could see he was feeling it and we decided to take him off.
“He certainly adds something to the team.
“He’s a big player for any team, Calum.
“One, because he’s a clever football player, and that’s why we brought him to the football club.
“He’s probably not got the goals he’s deserved but you saw last season when he went through a spell, if he’s not scoring he’s setting it up.
“He was involved in just about three-quarters of the goals we scored last season, so he definitely brings something to the team.
“As a striker, they all want to be scoring as many goals as they can but if they’re not it’s what else they’re doing.
“Yes, he’s found himself out of the team this season, up until now, but that’s part and parcel of football.
“We’ve got three strikers at the club that want to play, and very rarely do you play with three strikers.
“Calum’s had a couple of injuries that have kept him out for a long time but in the last two years he’s hardly picked up anything serious, since he came back from playing abroad.
“He’s had a spell at Alloa and with us and he’s had the usual wee niggles here and there, like any player gets.
“You always fear the worst when a player goes down like he did, but he continued in the game.
“The physio will have a better idea when she sits down with him and the swelling clears up.”
Murray is weighing up whether or not to make a move for a striker before the transfer window closes next week, and that could well depend on Elliot’s prognosis.
“There’s nothing happening at the minute,” he continued, rubbishing reports linking Rovers with a move for Hibs’ Paul Heffernan.
“Obviously it would be good to know about Calum, whether it’s going to be long-term or not.
“But we’ve got nothing happening at the moment.
“We were just delighted in the last couple of weeks to have everyone available.”
Raith have found Easter Road a happy hunting ground in recent times and will go there with confidence tomorrow after going four games unbeaten.
But Murray warned: “I expect Hibs to come right at us, like they do in any game now.
“It’s a change from when we first played them at Easter Road; they’ve got a change of system and different players in.
“They’re a goal-scoring team at this moment in time and they’re definitely a threat.
“They probably had a frustrating start, whether that was adjusting to the league, but they’ve picked right up and they’re definitely one of the in-form teams in the league.
“We’ve got to be wary of that.
“Any time you go to Easter Road is a difficult time, although we’ve been fortunate at this club that it’s been a good ground for us to go to.
“We want to use that, but players have got to look forward to big games like this and enjoy it.
“They’re getting goals from defenders and midfielders, so right away that tells you they are definitely an attacking threat and they’re deadly from set-plays.
“So we’ve got to be totally focused and switched on at every opportunity – but we’ve got to go there and be a threat ourselves as well.”