MOTHERWELL manager Stephen Robinson is facing an anxious wait to see who he has available for this afternoon’s Lanarkshire derby after a virus swept through the Fir Park squad this week.
As many as four players are rated doubtful for the game in Hamilton as Robinson waits to see who has recovered in time to make the short trip across the Clyde.
“We have a wee bit of a bug going through the camp, so we’ve had three or four players missing training at various stages this week, so it will be a wee bit of a last-minute call to see who is 100 percent right,” said Robinson.
“We’ve kept a few boys away from the club too so that it doesn’t spread, but there are some coming back and some that have just got it. Hopefully we’ll be ok by Saturday afternoon. There’s nobody definitely out.
“We’re talking maybe three or four boys, so we’ll wait to see how they are feeling and if they can play.
“Jake Carroll is back from suspension, he has come in and started really well, so it was unfortunate for him that he had to sit out two games against Hearts and Celtic.”
There may be something of a drop-off in the normal visiting numbers this afternoon as sections of the Motherwell support rail against Hamilton’s pricing for the game, and if there are any supporters swithering this morning over whether or not to attend, they probably won’t be persuaded by Robinson’s verdict on what lies ahead.
“It won’t be an attractive game of football,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve seen one on any astroturf pitch on this country since I came here.
“It will be a scrap, it will be a little bit of a fight and a battle, and our boys will have to be up for that before we put our stamp on the game.
“The performances will have to be better than the other night [against Hearts], but in saying all that, we dominated the last 30 minutes against a really good Hearts side.
“We just didn’t have the killer touch and that’s what we’re looking to improve on.
“I heard Craig Levein’s comments in the press and it’s true, there is mass hysteria over nothing at times.
“We lost a game of football to arguably the third-best team in the country. They have a big squad with massive financial resources.
“We expected to beat them and we didn’t play well enough to do that, simple as that.
“It’s a learning curve for the boys, probably the biggest game that some of those boys have played in, and they will bounce back from it.
“They’ve been really positive this week, there has been some really good performances in training, and they have to now take that into the Accies game.”
Robinson is also continuing his search to improve his squad, and while he wouldn’t be drawn on a move for Celtic defender Jack Hendry, he did admit that he is still hoping to strengthen several areas of his side.
“I won’t discuss anyone else’s players,” he said. “I’m looking at every area still.
“Peter Hartley was unavailable for the game last Friday due to family reasons, and that made me realise we are a little bit short.
“We had a deal fall through for a centre-forward that we thought we might have got in, so everything is ongoing at the minute.”
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