Morris to miss rest of Premiership season while Maouche closes in on Ross County debut
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Defensive stalwart Callum Morris will miss the remainder of Ross County’s scrap for Premiership survival.
The experienced central defender visited specialists south of the border for a hamstring operation which, while successful, will rule him out of the remaining seven to nine weeks of the season.
While it represents a significant blow to County at a crunch time, manager John Hughes insists there are “more positives than negatives” as the Dingwall club seeks to defy the drop.
Upbeat Hughes cited the return to the club of so far unseen Mohamed Maouche, a technically gifted, creative midfielder, from a spell of compassionate leave as just one of many causes for optimism at the Global Energy Stadium.
Morris, when fit, has proven a valuable asset for the Staggies, but has endured a demoralising series of injury setbacks since arriving in June 2018, missing three months in all of the current campaign already.
Hughes, who can still call on Alex Iacovitti, Keith Watson, Coll Donaldson and young Leo Hjelde as natural centre backs, said: “Cal has been down in London and had the operation.
“It was a tear on the hamstring and they opened it up, stitched it back up, and that is it. He is now back doing his rehabilitation, but he won’t be back this season.
“We are missing a lot of players, but it is the same at all clubs with injuries. We also had big Ross Stewart move on to Sunderland and Josh Reid went to Coventry.
“For us to still get the results we have, is fantastic.
“We are just about there, sitting 10th – and it is in our hands.
“Let’s go and finish the job. There are more positives than negatives at Ross County.”
Frenchman Maouche signed in January, but soon returned home following the death of his mother.Hughes said: “When he came over we had to get him up to speed fitness-wise and he did the self-isolation process. Then his mother got diagnosed with cancer and, sadly, she passed away. He is back here now and all credit to him. There has to be a lot of understanding for him.
“But you can see he is a footballer and, you never know, we might only see him for 10 minutes or half-an-hour and it might be a Mohamed back post tap-in that seals safety for Ross County.
“If that happens, then it will all be worth it. I’m hoping after this week we can get a practice match that he will benefit from. He has a part to play between now and the end of the season.”
County face two home and three away fixtures post-split, balancing their 38-game season, and Hughes dismissed talk of unfair scheduling.
He stressed: “We knew what was coming with the fixtures, so it won’t faze us. With our home record, is being at home a huge advantage anyway? I’m not so sure.
“It’s in our own hands. We have to stay cool, calm down and not forget we have had some great results in the last few months.”
