Gary Naysmith, the East Fife player-manager, has admitted he will struggle to put a team on the pitch against Rangers tonight.
The part-time side host Rangers in a rearranged Petrofac Training Cup quarter-final tie, with Naysmith unsure that will have 14 players at his disposal. The 35-year-old himself has been added to a lengthy injury list at the SPFL League 2 club, while on-loan players Jonathan Page and Liam Smith are cup tied.
Ironically, the Fife side were in rude health when Rangers had the initial tie postponed on September 6 after Bilel Mohsni, Lewis MacLeod and Dean Shiels were called away on international duty.
Naysmith has acknowledged that his main concern tonight will be avoiding further injuries. "If we can get 14 players stripped we'll be doing well," said the former Scotland internationalist, with Alloa Athletic awaiting the winners of the tie tonight.
"We'll have about 13 outfield players fit and there will probably be one who probably shouldn't be on the bench, but he will be.
"We deliberately went with a smaller squad, 20 to 21, which is enough because we don't have a reserve team, we don't have a youth team. But what's happened is that we've just got three or four injuries at the same time and unfortunately it's all our left-sided players.
"There's no point crying over it. That's what happens when you run a smallish squad.
"What do I want from tomorrow? The honest answer is no more injuries. That's the God's honest truth because if it happens we could be going with just 12 players against Queen's Park on Saturday."
Despite the fitness concerns, Naysmith still hopes that his side can produce a competitive display. "I want to put on a performance that shows we are getting better as a team," he added.
"We can give Rangers a few problems and we don't want it to be one-way traffic. We will put out a team to try and cause them a few problems."
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