Injured Ross County star William Akio set for Staggies return in Premier Sports Cup second round tie against Celtic in Dingwall

Ross County manager Malky Mackay has confirmed that William Akio will return to his squad for he Premier Sports Cup second round tie against Celtic.

The winger made quite an impression on debut against East Fife, picking up two assists before being forced off towards the end with a knee injury.

Shortly afterwards Mackay revealed the timeline for the South Sudan international's return would be months rather than weeks, but he has made speedy progress and could return to action tomorrow night.

“We’ve lost Yan Dhanda from his two bookings in the group, inexplicably they follow through into the later rounds," Mackay said.

“Ross Callachan and Jack Baldwin are obviously suspended as well, but Dylan Smith will stay in the squad and we’ve got William Akio back which is a bonus.

“It’s very ahead of schedule, so it’s a real kudos to him and a big up to our two physios Tadhg O’Carroll and Gareth Partridge who have worked tirelessly with the boy.

“We lost a couple in the last few weeks, which left us a little bit short, but we’ll get the two suspended boys back for Saturday, William’s back, and Connor Randall will only be another four to six weeks hopefully. Then we’ll be back to full strength."

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