Motherwell boss Stevie Hammell is hoping that experienced defender Ricki Lamie won’t be joining a list of names who could be missing for the Steelmen’s cup tie against Celtic.
The 29-year-old has been a mainstay in Hammell’s defensive backline and started their 2-1 defeat against Rangers on Sunday.
However, the former Livingston defender was forced off due to injury in the 57th minute, being replaced by Bevis Mugabi.
Lamie joins the list of players currently injured at Fir Park, with the likes of Louis Moult, Jo Efford and Blair Spittal being unavailable yesterday afternoon.
Motherwell’s options off the bench in forward areas, in particular, were extremely sparse, with Hammell having to keep his starting front four on for the entire 90 minutes.
The Fir Park side also weren’t able to name a full substitutes bench, with three of their options being 16-year-old youth prospects from the club’s academy.
And the new Well boss may be in the same situation come Wednesday, when Ange Postecoglou’s side travel to town for the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final tie.
Although Lamie’s injury isn’t thought to be anything serious, it appears the defender will be in a race against time to be fit for the midweek cup clash.
He said [Daily Record]: “Ricki is okay, we’ll assess it as we go. It’s an impact on his ribs, very similar to Blair Spittal.
“The last thing we need right now is any more injury concerns because every forward player we have was either on the pitch today or injured or suspended.
“We are looking at the bench, and we’ve only got a couple of 16-year-old kids, and we couldn’t even fill the bench today as well.
“We hope it will be better by Wednesday because we need these players back. We’ve got a thin squad, and a lot of quality starters are out just now, so hopefully, we will see a few of them returning soon.”
Celtic will be looking to take advantage of Motherwell’s injury woes and book place at Hampden Park.
As Celtic travel to Fir Park this midweek, Ange Postecoglou’s side will be looking to book their place in the last four and at Hampden Park for the beginning of next year.
Of course, the Hoops have faced some injury concerns of their own in recent times, with the likes of Callum McGregor and Carl Starfelt out for the coming weeks.
There also remains a doubt over the fitness of Jota, who was expected to return to training this week. But it hasn’t been confirmed if he will make this week’s matchup.
As mentioned, it remains to be seen whether some of these players will be fit in time. So, we will just have to wait to hear from both managers in their pre-match pressers tomorrow afternoon.
But, with both sides facing potential injury concerns, it is up to Ange Postecoglou and his squad to take advantage and put in a good performance in what could prove to be a tricky tie against Motherwell.
In other news, The Ange Postecoglou Celtic starting changes that are beginning to pay off.
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