New Canada international Victor Loturi to be given time off after Gold Cup ahead of return to Ross County, manager Malky Mackay confirms
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Ross County manager Malky Mackay has confirmed that Victor Loturi will be given time off when his Gold Cup campaign with Canada comes to an end.
The 22-year-old midfielder went on international duty almost immediately after the Staggies' play-off final escape against Partick Thistle, linking up with the Canada squad for the Concacaf Nations League finals initially.
Although he did not feature then, he was included in the ongoing Gold Cup squad too, and made his international debut on Tuesday night against Cuba as a 69th minute substitute.
It was a must-win match for Canada to progress into the knockout rounds of the competition, and win they did – 4-2 thanks to goals from Junior Hoilett, Jonathan Osorio, Jayden Nelson and former Kilmarnock loanee Liam Millar.
That means Loturi's return to the Highlands will be delayed, with the potential of a run to the final on July 16 if Canada can get past defending champions – and seven-time Gold Cup winners – USA on Sunday.
"We'll see if they get here, and then Victor will need a week off because he has played for two years straight," Mackay reasoned.
"I know he hasn't played much, but he's part of the squad and training every day, and he's not had time off.
"Victor is a terrific young talent for us, and he has grown a lot in his first year, but I'm conscious of that workload."
While Loturi missed the Staggies' first pre-season friendly away at Nairn County on Tuesday night because he was on international duty, several other players have either been given time off or are recovering from injuries.
Loturi's brother William Akio, back at County after a loan spell at Raith Rovers in the second half of last season, was among the absentees, as were Ross Callachan, Ross Laidlaw, Jordan Tillson and Eamonn Brophy who were all in attendance at Station Park to support their teammates.
"Ross Callachan has a long way to go, and Eamonn is still a couple of weeks away," Mackay explained.
"Jordan Tillson is only going to be a couple of weeks. He just had a minor procedure medically that means he has a couple of weeks off at the moment, but there's nothing to worry about.
"Laidlaw just had a little clean up of his knee, which means he will be back for the start of the season – maybe the last week or so of the League Cup. We'll go with Ross Munro in the meantime in goal.
"William at the moment is getting a bit more rest as well. He's back in Canada at the moment, so we'll see how that goes in the next week or two.
"Again there's a bit of recovery needed there, so he's another one that will come back a little bit later and will be behind the curve a wee bit."
Another injured player watching on in Nairn was Ben Paton.
Paton has not featured since the first match of 2023 away at Aberdeen in early January after suffering an ACL injury in training.
With his contract due to expire at the end of last season, Mackay had previously confirmed that Ross County would see the midfielder through his recovery, and he has now expanded on what that will look like.
"Ben will be with us until Christmas," he added.
"We need to make sure that he's fit for his career and able to kick on again.
"We're hoping for November 1 so that he can get six to eight weeks to get up to speed and see where things will go.
"It has been a terrible thing for him, but he's recovering well. He spent the first few weeks in Canada, but he has come back here and he's working hard in Dingwall every day.
"He's a great kid who is in great shape, and he's starting to run again but he won't be back before November 1."
