Sparrow adds to Motherwell injury woes

Motherwell have suffered another injury blow with midfielder Tom Sparrow set to be sidelined until the new year.

The midfielder played on through an ankle problem in last week's defeat at Ross County and will begin his lay-off when Motherwell host Hibernian on Saturday.

Manager Stuart Kettlewell said: "Tom sustained an ankle injury in the first minute of the game on Saturday, as it turns out.

"So we reckon, based on the scan, that he's going to be out for a minimum of a month, which is a real blow.

"He's obviously pitched in with a couple of goals this season, kind of getting himself up to speed, found himself in our team."

Although Harry Paton is getting up to speed after missing much of the past nine months with two ankle injuries, Sparrow joins a growing list of long-term absentees which includes Sam Nicholson, Callum Slattery and Ross Callachan.

"We have found ourselves in a position where, since the very first game of the season, we've constantly had to work towards the profile of player that we have available," Kettlewell said.

"That hasn't allowed us to play a certain way, week in, week out, have that level of consistency, which I would always look for.

"But within that, there's been some good performances, there's been some good results. So from my side, it's always trying to find the best formula for what you've got available to you."

Kettlewell was unable to start Tawanda Maswanhise during the 2-1 defeat in Dingwall after the in-form goalscorer experienced delays on his return from Zimbabwe duty, while Tony Watt missed the game with a back spasm which has now cleared up.

Kettlewell said: "I think that everybody will understand that Tawanda would have been one of the names at the forefront of my mind going to play against Ross County.

"But he now settles back in and he has a week's training. We'll hopefully get him to the stage where he was at against the likes of Dundee United, where he's grabbing a couple of goals and being a real handful."