Foran set to miss start of season
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RICHIE Foran looks likely to miss the start of the season after undergoing further knee surgery.
Caley Thistle’s captain was ruled out for the final two months of the previous campaign when he required a clean up operation on his knee at the end of March.
Foran, however, was confident he would be fit for pre-season having spent part of the break undergoing a rehabilitation programme, but the 34-year-old suffered a setback earlier this month.
He has been unable to feature in any of Caley Thistle’s friendlies so far and towards the end of last week underwent another operation in a bid to fix the problem.
At this stage Hughes is unsure of exactly how long he will be without his skipper’s services for, but it looks increasingly likely that Foran will be sidelined when the new Scottish Premiership season begins next month.
"Richie has just had a wee clean up of his knee," said Hughes.
"For me, it looks like he will miss the start of the season, but I wouldn’t want to put a timescale on it as it’s Richie we are talking about.
"He only had it done the other day, so until I speak to the physio and the medical staff about it fully, only then will I have more of an idea about it."
There is, however, better news regarding Danny Devine. The central defender twisted his knee in the 5-0 friendly victory at Forres Mechanics, but a scan has shown no significant damage and Hughes is confident he should be available again "in a week or so".
Josh Meekings was left out of the weekend’s win over Fleetwood Town as a precaution after sustaining a slight hip injury at Deveronvale, while Ross Draper was expected to return to training yesterday having missed the last two friendlies.
Despite not having his full squad available for Fleetwood’s visit, Hughes was relatively pleased with the way his side performed against their English League One opponents.
"It was a right good game for us — a good exercise," he said. "Sometimes, it’s not a bad thing if you get beat pre-season, but if you win then it gives you confidence and momentum.
"We had to be at it against Fleetwood. All credit to them because they came right into the game in the second half.
"We had to make sure our shape was good. Now all we need to do is sharpen it up.
"We’ve still got a bit to go in terms of sharpness, but even some of the counter-attacks that we’ve been working on were decent.
"There’s no point doing all your work on the training ground and forgetting to implement it on the pitch.
"It’s about having the mindset to go and execute all the work we’ve been doing and we are getting it. Some of them are a wee bit in front of others, but it will come."
Meanwhile, Hughes is keen to sign Lewis Horner (22). The former Hibernian midfielder has been on trial with Caley Thistle since last week and could become the Highland capital club’s second summer arrival after bringing in young defender Ryan Baptie.
"Lewis is a kid whose probably lost his way at this moment in time," he said. "But he’s come in here and he wants that opportunity.
"He fits the bill in terms of a player that has something to prove and is still hungry.
"Technically, he’s a very, very good footballer. His fitness levels are very good, so it will probably be one that we’re looking to try and do.
"If I could do it, I would love to do it because he’s fitted right in with the boys.
"You can see from his passing and his touch that he’s a footballer.
"He just needs that opportunity and someone to have a bit of belief in him to get himself going again."
