Don Cowie says Ross County’s Yan Dhanda remains in high spirits after alleged racist abuse against Hibernian; no concerns over Will Nightingale or Josh Reid’s fitness to face Motherwell
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Ross County interim manager Don Cowie says midfielder Yan Dhanda remains in high spirits after allegedly being subject to racist abuse.
The midfielder flagged up a comment made by a travelling fan in the 30th minute of the Staggies’ game against Hibernian last weekend to referee Don Robertson, who ensured the incident was noted.
Later that night, County released a statement confirming that an investigation was under way, and then on Monday the club confirmed that a 27-year-old male had been arrested and charge, with a report to be made to the procurator fiscal.
While swift action was clearly taken, such personal abuse has the potential to impact someone’s mindset.
As far as Cowie has seen on the training pitch since, though, Dhanda has been unaffected by the incident.
“He’s good – Yan’s in a really good place,” Cowie explained.
“I thought he dealt with the incident extremely well during the game. He felt something was said so he highlighted it to the referee and it’s now being investigated.
“Yan is fully focused on this week and he has the support of us as a club. He knows we’re here.
“It’s an investigation and I’m not privy to what’s going on. In general we’re just supportive of Yan and we’re hoping he’ll have a positive impact this week.”
County will certainly be hoping the attacking midfielder can continue to play a starring role in their bid to avoid a second successive relegation play-off, with Motherwell the next side to visit Dingwall this Saturday.
Cowie expects to have a similarly strong squad to the one that defeated Hibs, a match that saw Will Nightingale play 90 minutes on his return from three months out and Josh Reid be forced off in the second half.
“Ross Callachan is back in full training, and it has been a real boost for the group and for him to see that smile again,” Cowie added.
“It will take time in terms of him maybe being on the pitch, but just by having him around the place has given everyone a real boost.
“Will played his first game in three months and seems to have recovered well from that. That’s a real positive for us going into the final three games.
“It didn’t surprise me. He has had a bit of a stop-start time at the club, but I think everyone can see that when he’s been fit and playing, he adds that real experience and physicality to our team.
“I had no doubt in putting him in the team, because I see the way he looks after himself and the professionalism he has got.
“I did worry whether he could keep going, maybe going into the 70th or 75th minute, but he was pretty adamant he could and I was delighted for him to get the 90 minutes under his belt.
“Josh got a dead leg on Friday at the end of training. When you get that, it can seize up a bit.
“He was a little bit of a doubt for the game, but he said he was fine to play. I think maybe just stopping at half time, and then going back out for the second half, he couldn’t quite get it going again.
“When you’ve got someone like George Harmon, who is an ultimate professional and always ready to come on the pitch and do the job for the team, it was an easy transition at that stage of the game.”
