Headache for Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell as injuries continue to mount up

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell insists they are “meticulous” with their injury prevention work as he outlined the situation that could leave him without eight players against Rangers on Saturday.

Seven are definitely out and Lennon Miller is a doubt for the William Hill Premiership match at Hampden after suffering a knock against Ross County.

Shane Blaney and Ross Callachan have also been added to Motherwell’s injury list since last weekend’s goalless draw, joining Filip Stuparevic, Sam Nicholson, Harry Paton, Callum Slattery and John Koutroumbis.

Kettlewell’s selection issues are further complicated by the fact that the likes of Paul McGinn and summer signings Steve Seddon and Tom Sparrow are yet to start a game this season following injuries.

Kettlewell said at a media conference: “We’ve had it through pre-season, we’ve had it for large chunks last season and the question that will come from yourselves, I had it from someone yesterday, is if we don’t delve into the exact kind of loading and what we do in training sessions.

“I can assure you that we’re as meticulous with that side of things as we possibly can.

“Some of the injuries are from impacts, completely unavoidable, and we’re trying to limit time on the pitch for some players to make sure that they’re fit and they’re able to play in games on a Saturday.

“It gets to the point almost for me just now where we can’t really train much less than what we are to prepare our players for playing a game of football on a Saturday. So it’s been a really difficult juggling act.”

Kettlewell, who has made 11 summer signings, added: “We would like to do a little bit more business, but you can see that we have done a fair amount of business to this point.

“We don’t have masses to work with, but if we can get another one or two in, we’re going to have to be pretty creative to do that.”

Kettlewell’s biggest issues are in midfield with Slattery, Paton and Nicholson, who last week suffered a setback in his recovery from a knee injury, now joined by Callachan, who played his first game in 16 months on Saturday, and possibly Miller.

“I don’t have a magic wand to change the profile of players, but we always try and adapt no matter what,” Kettlewell said.

“At times that might be asking a defensive player to play slightly higher up the pitch or an offensive player to do a more defensive job.”

Giving the latest updates, the Motherwell boss said: “Sam’s had consultation, we’re quite far down the road, but there’s still one or two aspects that we just need to firm up. But we know it’s an injury that’s going to keep him out for a significant period of time.

“Ross is a bad one as well. Really unfortunate. It was a light training session on Monday, he trained really well and at the very end yet again – it always seems to be the last 10 or 20 seconds of a session – he’s pulled up with a hamstring injury and the severity of it looks bad enough that it’s going to keep him out for a period of time again.

“Shane’s one of the most robust guys in the team, and as soon as he put his hand up on Saturday, then I knew that there was something significant there, and we’ve had him scanned and that’s exactly the case.

“It was an impact injury, a tackle later on in the game on Saturday and he’s got a tear in his medial ligament in his knee. So that’s going to keep him out somewhere between four to six weeks.”