Caley Thistle hope to discover today whether full-back Shaun Rooney will be available for the start of the new campaign after he suffered an ankle injury in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Aberdeen.
The right-back was left writhing in agony after twisting his ankle after just five minutes of the friendly at Borough Briggs and Caley Jags boss John Robertson fears the worst.
He said: “Shaun took a sore one on the halfway line. There’s a wee hole three yards in and he caught his foot in there and twisted it.
“We hope it is no more than a twist but there could be ligament damage in there which would obviously rule him out for a while.
“It’s badly swollen at the moment so we won’t know until it settles down but hopefully he will be all right.”
Inverness are in action again tonight when they travel to Tynecastle in Edinburgh to
face Hearts in a benefit match for midfielder Angus Beith, who was forced to retire
due to injury last season.
Robertson will rotate his squad for the trip to Gorgie but midfielder Charlie Trafford believes Saturday’s result shows his side can look forward to the new season with confidence.
He said: “Aberdeen are a good side and that’s what we want to test ourselves against.
“We’ve played a few Highland League teams where you get a lot of the ball so to play a team preparing for Europe is great for us and to get a result out of it is great for our confidence too.
“We have a small squad so there will be some rotation as it’s tough to go again two days later after a game against Aberdeen but there is confidence in the group.”
Charlie Trafford’s former club RoPS will face the Dons in the first qualifying round
of the Europa League on Thursday and while he expects Aberdeen to progress to the second round, he believes his former club can test Derek McInnes’s side.
He said: “The Finnish teams are in the middle of their season and are at full tilt already so you expect Aberdeen to be at a much better level but travelling to the Arctic Circle will not be easy. I would expect Aberdeen to do it but you never know.”