| The Dark Blues trail leaders St Johnstone, who are at Livingston tomorrow, by 10 points and are acutely aware that any further dropped points will be a final nail in their promotion coffin.
Manager Jocky Scott and his players realise the situation they are in, but, also know the Dingwall side need points themselves to climb away from the relegation zone and will provide another stern test.
“It’s an opportunity for us to get back on track after Tuesday and get a win — but we have to win all the games now, we can’t afford any slip-ups and the players are well aware of that,” said Jocky.
“Yesterday, the lads were a wee bit quiet, which suggests they were a bit down after Tuesday, so they will certainly be out to make amends tomorrow. They know it will be a hard game again — they all are in this league. But we’ve got to get on with it and try to go through the rest of the season unbeaten.”
Meanwhile, Jocky will give David Cowan and Gary MacKenzie every opportunity to get themselves fit before kick-off.
Cowan has an ankle problem, while MacKenzie hobbled off against Queen of the South with a hamstring complaint.
“Neither of them trained yesterday and they’ll be in with the physio today, but, even if they don’t train today, we’ll wait to see how they are tomorrow before making a decision.”
The manager ruled out Jim Lauchlan and Colin Cameron, while Craig McKeown isn’t 100% fit and would only be pressed into action in an emergency.
“It would be unfair to expect Craig to play given the amount of time he’s been out. But if he was available, and MacKenzie and Cowan were not, then our hand would be forced and we’d have to use him.”
The Dark Blues will be denied the services of Andrew Shinnie later this month. The on-loan Rangers man has been called into Billy Stark’s Scotland U/21 squad for the double header against Albania.
That will see Shinnie miss Dundee’s re-scheduled games at Ross County (Mar. 28) and Dunfermline (Mar. 31).
“I’m delighted for Andrew because he’s done very well for us and deserves to be included, but, for us, it’s a real blow because he’s going to be out for a couple of games,” said Jocky.
The absence of Shinnie could be duplicated if fellow on-loan wide man Giorgi Efrem is called up by Cyprus for an U/21 friendly against Georgia on Saturday, March 28.
“The Cypriots have been in touch requesting Giorgi, but, as they are only playing a friendly, I’ve asked for him to be left out,” said Jocky.
“It’s bad enough having one player away.” |
