Caberfeidh’s international defender Blair Morrison will be out of action until July after a freak accident in the garden.
Morrison, who was voted national under-21 player of the year in 2018, underwent an operation on his hand in Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, earlier this week.
Cabers manager Jodi Gorski said: “Blair was injured in a fall in his garden. He landed on a nail which caused a massive gash in his palm, requiring surgery.
“He’ll be sidelined for at least six to eight weeks, which is a real shame as he’s worked hard to be fighting fit for the new season on June 5 and he’s such an important player for this club.
“Hopefully, Blair may be back in time for the cup competitions, but we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Morrison played for Scotland in Dublin in October, 2019, and the Irish organisers awarded him the Best and Fairest trophy.
Robinson set to return
Cabers play Newtonmore at The Eilean today and their hosts will be without internationalist Steven Macdonald who is struggling with hamstring trouble.
Jamie Robinson, however, returns for ‘More after missing last weekend’s match through injury.
International midfield player Craig Mainland is on holiday and misses Lovat’s opener against Skye at Portree.
“Craig had a ‘staycation’ arranged but he’ll be back in time for next weekend’s league opener at Kingussie,” said manager Jamie Matheson.
Skye will be at full strength. Veterans Sorley Macdonald and Gilleasbuig Macdonald have rejoined the islanders but manager Kenny Macleod said: “We’re committed to our first team project of using young players.
“Gilleasbuig and Sorley will be a big help to the second team and they definitely could still make a first team contribution if required.”
Danny Delaney’s first match as Lochaber manager will see them host Inverness at Spean Bridge.
Glen Urquhart, who face neighbours Strathglass for the Macdonald Cup, are waiting to see if defender Michael Brady is able to commit to travelling from Perth to play this season.
The reserve teams face each other for the Ali Ban trophy.