Peterhead boss Jim McInally insists he can’t complain about injuries because the young players in his squad have stepped up to the plate.
The Blue Toon have had to cope without experienced campaigners such as Simon Ferry, Gary MacKenzie and Isaac Layne for chunks of this campaign.
But McInally has been pleased with the impression made by some of the young players at his disposal.
Goalkeeper Josh Rae and defender Kieran Freeman, both 20, midfielders Lyall Cameron, 18, and Andrew McCarthy, 22, and strikers Steven Boyd, 24, and 22-year-old Ben Armour have all impressed.
McInally said: “I’m not going to moan about injuries because, as much as we’d love to have a full complement of players to pick from, there’s not been a game yet this season where we haven’t been competitive.
“That pleases me, especially when you consider the age of some of the players. Lyall Cameron played 75 minutes on Saturday and was excellent.
“Kieran Freeman, Josh Rae are both young players, Steven Boyd’s not much older and is playing really well.
“I’m pleased with what we’ve been doing, so I can’t moan about injuries because we have done well with players out, which has been positive.”
Peterhead are set to be without player-coach Ferry for Saturday’s fixture against Forfar at Balmoor.
The midfielder was forced to come off in the early stages of last weekend’s win against Dumbarton.
Peterhead boss Jim McInally hails injury-ravaged side after digging in to defeat Dumbarton
Layne is also set to be on the sidelines after sustaining a knee problem against the Sons.
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But McInally will have Jason Brown available again this weekend after suspension, while fellow defender Gary MacKenzie has also returned to training.
The SPFL’s longest-serving manager added: “With Simon it’s the other hamstring to the one he’s had problems with before and he didn’t think it was too bad.
“We’re hopeful that he might only miss Saturday’s game.
“We hope with Isaac it’s not long term again, he’s been a handful in the games he’s played.
“But Ben Armour has been the same, he’s done really well and Derek Lyle came on and did really well on Saturday.
“We know we’ve got Gary and Jason coming back, who are bigger and more dominant at set-pieces and things like that.
“It’s nice to have the options and I’m sure we’ll have them pretty soon.”
After winning at Balmoor in League One for the first time season against Dumbarton, McInally is hoping to make home advantage count against Forfar.
He said: “This Saturday is massive for us. Every point in this league is going to be a prisoner and we need to take advantage of home games and make the most of them.”
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