Harry Milne reckons Cove Rangers can cope despite the loss of captain Mitch Megginson.
A thigh injury saw Megginson taken off early in the Betfred Cup opener against Peterhead on Saturday but Milne believes there is quality in abundance in the Cove squad to cover.
Manager Paul Hartley will not be taking any risks with the striker, who is likely to sit out tomorrow’s Betfred Cup tie with Dundee. He came off after 17 minutes of Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Peterhead.
That resulted in Daniel Park going up front for the remainder of the game, in what is already a stretched squad. They will, however, have Martin Scott returning from suspension for tomorrow’s game with Dundee.
Milne said: “We’ll obviously look to bring in one or two more faces to bolster the squad. There’s a couple of boys struggling but hopefully they’ll be back for the start of the season.
“When you lose your captain it’s not ideal. He did brilliant to nick the ball off Jason Brown for the penalty. But we’ve got the quality in the squad so it shouldn’t change the dynamics of the team too much. It’s a loss but whoever comes in can do well.”
Cove played one of Hartley’s former sides – Falkirk – in the Scottish Cup last year at Inverurie and welcome another to the Balmoral Stadium tomorrow in the shape of Dundee.
The Dark Blues beat Raith Rovers 3-0 in their opening game on Saturday, in what was James McPake’s first competitive game in charge.
Milne said: “These big teams are the games you want to play in. It will be even tougher and there’ll hopefully be a big crowd.
“We want to compete in every game, leave everything out there. When we get to the end of the group, we are where we are. The first game in the league is the big one and we all want to be ready for that.”
Cove boss Hartley provided an update on Megginson, who won the penalty against the Blue Toon that Jamie Masson scored from, before limping off.
Hartley added: “It’s something where he could end up tearing a muscle and he could be out for six to eight weeks. I know he wants to play every game but we have to be sensible with him. We don’t need a player of his quality to be out for six to weeks, missing the start of the season.”
Ryan Strachan and Jamie Redman are also likely absentees against the Championship side, while Daniel Park and Masson also picked up knocks in the Peterhead game.