Lawson gets chance to win back County slot
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
DEREK Adams believes Paul Lawson has an opportunity to re-ignite his Ross County career after the blow of losing Stuart Kettlewell.
The one black spot to a highly-encouraging Boxing Day victory over Hibernian in the Capital was the loss of midfielder Kettlewell to a nasty hamstring injury.
The 28-year-old Glaswegian faces up to six weeks on the sidelines and Adams will look to the likes of Lawson and Mark Fotheringham to plug the hole.
Lawson suffered a costly injury of his own against Aberdeen early in the campaign and has struggled to win back his place.
But the ex-Celtic kid, who was a County substitute at Celtic Park last Saturday, played 42 minutes in the second half as Hibs were beaten.
Adams will now ponder his options for tomorrow’s crunch visit of Hearts, but hinted that Lawson could win only his fourth start of the season.
Reflecting on the disappointment of losing unsung hero Kettlewell, Adams said: “It looks like Stuart has damaged a hamstring and I was told four to six weeks.
“We’ll have to assess things over the next 48 hours. He is on crutches and was stretchered off.
“Stuart will be a big loss. He is a tenacious competitor for us, but it does give somebody else an opportunity.
“Paul Lawson came in against Hibs and we have the likes of Mark Fotheringham and Martin Scott coming back from illness and injury.
“And we have Mark Corcoran as well, who can play wide left with others coming into the heart of midfield. So we so have good options in midfield.”
While Lawson might not yet have full match sharpness, he is an experienced competitor with traits the manager values.
Adams said: “Paul did well – really well – coming into the team. Paul has been unfortunate in that he has picked up a few injuries this season. It is great to have him back involved.
“Paul can pass the ball very well. He’s accurate and likes to take hold of the ball in midfield.
“He and Richard Brittain are similar types of player in that regard.”
Club captain Brittain again led by example with a glorious winner at Easter Road.
Adams said: “I haven’t seen Richie score many headers. It was about 15 yards. But it was great for him to get another goal and it was a great goal. He played well.
“But the whole team performance was good. The lads fought hard and they had to because Hibs are chasing that second place.
“It is another win for us. It was a good performance, but just nice to win another game.
“Performance-wise, we’ve done well and it was good to record another clean sheet – our seventh out of 20 games in the SPL campaign.
“I’m delighted with that. It has taken us to four points off Hearts and six off Aberdeen. If you had predicted that after 20 games, I’d have been more than delighted. We’ve had a great 2012.
“There are 18 games to go and 21 points is a good tally from 20 games for a promoted side. We’re doing well.”
Against Hearts tomorrow, Adams wants to build on County’s main strength this season – home form.
The manager added: “Home form is very important, especially to a newly-promoted side.
“If you can have good home form and pick up the odd win and some draws away from home then you will do well.
“We just want to keep on picking up points. We started the season well and we have 18 games left.
“If we can keep going, we’ll see where we can finish.
“We are trying to focus on the teams above us, not Dundee, and we’ll see if we can catch any of them.
“There are a lot of good teams in this league but we know what we need to do in the remaining matches to stay in the SPL.”
Adams was monitoring “a few knocks” yesterday with a view to finalising his team to face the Jam Tarts.
The manager stressed he was continuing to evaluate signing targets, but would be unlikely to make any moves before mid-January.
Meanwhile, striker Steven Craig is still to hammer out his immediate future.
On loan at Partick and enjoying regular action, the County Scottish Cup hero will be allowed to leave Victoria Park if he can cut a deal with Partick over the remaining five months of his County contract.
Adams said: “There is no advancement regarding Steven Craig. We are still waiting to hear from Partick.
“Steven’s loan ends on the 31st December and he obviously returns here if nothing is agreed.
“But he wants to play regular football and Partick can give him that opportunity.
“We are not going to stand in his way if he and Partick come to an agreement, but I’m not 100 per cent certain that Partick will do the deal.”
