Will Ross County international jet-setter Josh Nisbet fly straight back from Socceroos’ action in Australia and Indonesia for William Hill Premiership action against Dundee?
Don Cowie will give international jet-setter Josh Nisbet every chance of recovering from an around the world jaunt to face Dundee.
The Socceroos’ cap will arrive back in Scotland tonight (Wednesday) after almost 48 hours of gruelling flights from Scotland to the other side of the world and back.
The August signing from Central Coast Mariners was an unused substitute as his national side crashed 1-0 to Bahrain on the Gold Coast and then transferred to Jakarta for a 24-minute bow from the bench as they drew 0-0 with Indonesia.
After clocking up 22,000 air miles - just 19 days after his initial flight from Oz to Scotland - Nisbet would be entitled to feel jet-lagged and heavy-legged.
But manager Cowie reckons his midfield dynamo’s mindset and athleticism means he has a fighting chance of shrugging it all off for the Dark Blues’ visit.
Speaking yesterday while Nisbet was in action in Jakarta, Cowie stressed: “We have had Josh with Australia and young Dylan Smith away with Scotland under 19s. It's amazing for them both.
“I managed to represent my country, so I know what it means.
"I was delighted to sign Josh as an international player, but we haven't seen him since the Aberdeen game.
"He arrives back in Inverness on Wednesday night. We will see how he is after the game against Indonesia with a view to involvement against Dundee. It's a lot of travelling.
“There was maybe the possibility that he wasn't going to go for this camp.
"Staying behind could have helped him settle within the area, but you can never take away the joy of being called up for your national team.
"Josh has got to this point in his career by working extremely hard.
"He has worked hard to break into his national team and has only done it in the last year.
“He wasn’t going to give up that opportunity when it came along and he understands where he is in terms of trying to break into that starting team for Australia.
"We will work with him, and help him and give him the platform to do it.”
As for highly-rated Smith, a favourite of past manager Malky Mackay’s, Cowie added: “I am also delighted for Dylan. He's not had a lot of football.
“It has been a challenging 12-18 months with injuries.
"For him to go away with Scotland is really important. They had a fantastic result against Holland on Monday. That can only be good.
"Getting a player like Josh, who is playing on the international stage, was a big coup for us.
"At the same time, having one of our own, who has come right through the academy, getting that recognition bodes well.”
