Kettlewell hopes Paton injury ‘nothing too serious’

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell hopes Harry Paton’s ankle injury is “nothing too serious”.

Canada defender Paton, 26, was withdrawn after 39 minutes of Well’s 3-1 Scottish League Cup win over hosts Clyde on Saturday, Andy Halliday taking his place.

Kettlewell currently has Sam Nicholson, Ross Callachan and long-term absentee Callum Slattery sidelined.

“He’s possibly just rocked his ankle,” Kettlewell said of Paton. “But fingers crossed it’s nothing too serious to add to what we’ve already got.”

Moses Ebiye put the Steelmen in front and Lee Hamilton levelled for Clyde. Lennon Miller won and converted a penalty for Motherwell’s second and Filip Stuparevic netted his first goal for the club late on.

“We’ve actually been speaking to Filip, that he’s trying to impress and he’s trying to show that he’s a good player – we know he’s a good player – and every time he gets into that final third, it’s like he’s trying to strip the paint off the ball,” Kettlewell commented.

“I thought he caressed that one really well into the side netting and he’s more than capable of that.

“We are trying to get him fitter, trying to get him a little bit sharper and get him up to speed how we want to play. But I think it was a really good contribution.

“The first part is the work ethic and energy. Filip probably needed a little bit more work than several other players so, gradually, hopefully, you’ll start to see him getting up to speed and showing us that type of quality he gave us with the third goal.”