Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Cove Rangers to be patient with Jamie Masson on return from injury lay-off

Cove Rangers manager Paul Hartley.
Cove Rangers manager Paul Hartley.

Paul Hartley will be patient with Jamie Masson on his return to the Cove Rangers side after long-term injury.

Masson will be part of the match-day squad today against East Fife after more than four months out with a serious ankle problem.

The Cove midfielder broke his tibia and tore ankle ligaments in the Scottish Cup tie against Rangers in April.

Masson spoke earlier this week about his desire to be back involved with his Cove team-mates, after missing the play-offs at the end of last season and the Premier Sports Cup.

After his surgery and rehab, Masson also contracted Covid-19 and was required to isolate.

Cove Rangers midfielder Jamie Masson.
Cove Rangers midfielder Jamie Masson.

Match-sharpness will be the next task for the 27-year-old and Hartley will not rush him back into the fray.

He said: “It’s been a long road for him to be fair so it’s good to have him back. We know his quality. He’s still got to get his match-fitness but it’ll be good to have round about the team again.

“He knows that (needs match-fitness) but we know his personality and we like him around the place. We know his quality if we need to bring him on at a certain stage in the game.

“He knows he’s still got a bit to go in terms of his work. You always have to prove yourself every season but we know, coming off the side, the goals and assists Mass can deliver for us.”

Ross Draper will miss out due to bone bruising, while midfielder Fraser Fyvie is suspended after his red card against Queen’s Park last weekend.

Hartley wants Cove to make the Balmoral Stadium a formidable place to come again, starting today against Darren Young’s side.

He said: “I watched their game last weekend and they were a bit unfortunate with the result. Every game that we play is difficult in the league.

“If you’re not at it, you’ll be turned over. We know we’re strong at home and we’ve got to continue that.

“I think it’s three league defeats in the two years since we’ve come in, which is not a bad record. We’ve got to make Cove a fortress again. Home form is going to be really important.

“The start has been a bit slower than I expected but it’s over the course of the season that counts.”

Cove Rangers manager Paul Hartley.
Cove Rangers manager Paul Hartley.

Cove are still in the market to add to their squad but it could be towards the end of the window before they bring someone in.

Hartley added: “We’ll try bring in another at the top end of the pitch but it’s not easy. There’s not many going about. Everybody is looking at the same type of player.

“It’ll probably be a loan, unless something really jumps out at us. There might be options towards the end of the window, where players don’t fit into a certain time that they’re no longer required.”