Motherwell boss Stevie Hammell has been rocked by two striker injuries as he prepares his side for tomorrow’s Premiership trip to Dundee United.
But while Joe Efford is likely to be out for months, there was some positive news in that Louis Moult’s injury isn’t as serious as was rumoured.
The Fir Park club today issued a statement stating American striker Efford will miss “several months” with a tear in his quad for which he underwent surgery on Tuesday.
Moult saw a specialist over a troublesome ankle injury and underwent a small procedure this week.
While Efford is unlikely to be back in action before the new year, the hope is that Moult could return in 10 days’ time.
Hammell said: “It is bad news and it’s really frustrating. Joe is someone who has progressed really well since we’ve come in, he’s a player that I really, really like.
“I think we were seeing really good levels from him, he’s a different type of player than we’ve got. He’s a big player for us, so to lose him and for the time that he’s going to be out is a massive blow.
“Louis, it has been a frustrating one, especially to be short at the top end of the pitch.
“He had a small procedure during the week but hopefully Louis is not going to be the kind of level that Joe is, in terms of time-frame.
“Louis has been a miss for us. He was brought in for us on the understanding that obviously he can’t play 90 minutes for us every week, and play 50 games a season.
“Ideally we would have liked that to have been more, we were bleeding him in, he was getting to a good level and then to have a set-back just now is disappointing, but that seems to be the way it’s going just now.
“Hopefully we can see him back on the pitch soon, and he can start making an impact on a match-day.”
Hammell added: “It’s not a knee injury. If you compare it to Joe’s injury it’s not as serious as that, but it is something that has stopped him from contributing on a daily basis and on a match-day.
“Hopefully the procedure he has had done will help and he’ll be able to contribute and get back to us seeing him on a match-day. That’s what we want.”
Meanwhile, Hammell accused match officials of being “dismissive” of their penalty claims inside the final minute of stoppage time in last Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at home to Aberdeen.
A foul by Ross McCrorie on Kevin van Veen, a shirt-pull by Anthony Stewart on Ricki Lamie, and a hand-ball by Matty Kennedy were all apparently viewed inside 30 seconds, before referee Euan Anderson signalled full-time.
In light of Athletico Madrid being awarded a penalty by VAR after the final whistle of their midweek 2-2 Champions League draw with Bayer Leverkusen – which they missed – Hammell admits it was a frustrating outcome.
He said: “I don’t know what the reaction has been to it, but in my opinion it’s a penalty, still, even looking at it back. The one on Ricki is a penalty and the angle we’ve got is it’s a hand-ball after.
“Our problem with it, and it’s not us looking for excuses, is how quickly it was all dismissed.
“It was looked at in 30 seconds, there were three incidents in total, they’ve looked at it and that’s it, the game is finished.
“In terms of when these decisions are made, and the time-frame it takes to make these decisions, that wasn’t consistent with what you saw at the end of the game.
“It was final whistle, game’s done, that’s it. It’s just disappointing, and we live and learn from it, but I do feel that we should have had a decision go our way at the end of the game.”
Hammell himself hasn’t been in touch with SFA head of referee operations Crawford Allan, but says the club were.
“We can’t change it, now, that’s something outwith our control,” he said.
“The only concern for us was the time-frame that it took, and how dismissive it was of any kind of claim that we had.
“I understand why it’s here, I respect that, and going forward, it [VAR] is needed – but I do think it takes away a lot from the game, in terms of the atmosphere, the passion from the actual game in the ground, and it’s different.
“It’s going to take time for it to get as close to being as least intrusive in the game as possible, so we understand that and hopefully, as we go, we’ll get better.
“It shouldn’t matter when it is in the game, but when the incident that we were looking at is so late, it kind of leaves you disappointed that it went against us, as well as the result.”
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