Paul McGinn injury leaves 'bitter taste' as Stuart Kettlewell opens up on Motherwell skipper blow

Stuart Kettlewell admits the loss of skipper Paul McGinn to a training ground injury has left a “bitter taste” ahead of a huge run of games for Motherwell.

The Fir Park side can go level on points with Rangers in third if they make it seven wins from eight games against Dundee tomorrow. But they’ll have to do without influential defender McGinn who is expected to be out until the new year after tearing his thigh muscle during the international break. Well have a League Cup semi final against Rangers on the horizon too and, while Kettlewell insists nobody is celebrating “small achievements” so far, he knows McGinn has been a key part of the storming run of results.

The Well boss said: “I’m not going to put an exact timescale on it. But I would be amazed if Paul's playing for us before the end of this year. He went to strike a ball and obviously felt something up round about his hip flexor and his thigh. There's a tear in the muscle and we'll be working on it. I think it's just disappointing what he starts to miss. We know we've got some real good games coming up. It is a huge blow and I never want to be blasé about this but it's part and parcel of the game.

“Without feeling sorry for ourselves we seem to get so much of that bad luck. We're gutted because Paul's such an influential player, everybody understands why I made him club captain here, because he's influence, because he's so consistent, because he's influence on the group.

“So we'll find another way, Shane Blaney is coming back to full fitness, we've got Kofi Balmer dipping in and making his first start for us against Hibs. And you've got Dan Casey coming back from suspension There are options there, but that doesn't take away from the disappointment and the