Motherwell star to miss rest of season as boss admits squad 'quite down' on numbers ahead of crucial Ross County clash

Motherwell manager Graham Alexander is assessing the fitness of four or five players after an illness bug at Fir Park reduced training numbers this week.

The Steelmen head north to Ross County sixth in the Premiership, knowing a win could see them leapfrog the Staggies, who sit a place above them in a Europa Conference League qualifier spot.

A full bench wasn't named in last week's 1-0 loss to Dundee United and there's been as little as 12 or 13 players training at times ahead of Saturday.

There's been a further blow too with versatile defender Nathan McGinley set to miss the remaining three matches against County, Hearts and Celtic.

He has been out through injury since a 2-1 Scottish Cup defeat to Hibs in March.

Alexander said: "We are assessing a few as we have had four or five players out with illness. They have managed to come into training so we'll see how they are.

"We'll take it from there. It's really difficult to plan as a few have started a lot recently.

"We've been quite down on numbers this week. We trained with 12 or 13 players last time we were in. We'll see who looks in good shape.

"It's difficult if you have missed a week's worth of training to then play a full game of football. But we have fit boys who want to play."

McGinley's loss is a blow to the 50-year-old, who is hopeful of seeing captain Stephen O'Donnell before the end of the season after a recent muscle problem.

He added: "Nathan we won't see (for the rest of the season) unfortunately. Stephen's trained a bit this week for the first time in a month.

"We'll see how he is. He's been out for a month with a muscle injury so we need to make sure he's in the best possible condition to play.

"We need all our players to be available. We need experience,