Scottish League Cup semi-final: Ross County v Celtic match preview

Ross County boss Jim McIntyre is ready to throw Liam Boyce into Sunday's League Cup semi-final against Celtic despite the striker not having played for a month.

The Northern Ireland international has been out with a broken hand but McIntyre believes his eye for a goal could be crucial as his side look to book only their second Hampden final date.

He said: "Boycey got his cast off this week and is available. It's healing well and he'll have a temporary cast that he's allowed to play with, so we'll see how he is.

"He trained the full session on Thursday and looked okay. When he's strapped up he's not running as freely as he might but we'll give him another couple of days then see if it's worth that risk.

"He's scored 17 in 24 games. Against Celtic you have to take your chance. He's worth taking a risk with but I want to see him on the training pitch again. He's not taken a bang on it yet. It's important we see he can handle that."

The Dingwall boss is also preparing to utilise defender Paul Quinn who has left Aberdeen to return to Victoria Park.

McIntyre added: "He is available and we are delighted to have him. He was my captain and integral to what we did last year.

"Much has rightly been made of getting to the 2010 Scottish Cup Final but we want to make our own memories. St Johnstone, Caley and Aberdeen have shown anyone can win a cup."

New signing Erik Sviatchenko is in contention for the holders. The 24-year-old Denmark defender, recently signed from Midtjylland, is added to Ronny Deila's squad.

Defender Dedryck Boyata (hamstring) could return but midfielder Tom Rogic (knock) is unlikely to feature.

The tournament was Deila's first trophy win as Celtic manager and preceded the club's fourth straight league success.

After some indifferent form this campaign, his side have carried all before them of late, recording five straight wins in all competitions, scoring 19 goals in the process.

He said: "We are getting some rest and you can see that it puts a lot of energy into the boys. If we keep the tempo and intensity that we had in the last games, we know that we can beat anybody.

"To step up is important, you have to develop yourself during the season and you need to get better and better. We're looking forward to it. This is a big, big opportunity for us."