KUDUS Oyenuga has set himself a target of returning in time for the Hogmanay derby against St Mirren after picking up a hamstring strain against Hibernian last weekend.

Oyenuga was subbed after just 15 minutes of the Cappielow clash last Saturday, but the striker insists his injury may only keep him out for a brief spell — and he’s hoping to be back in time for the clash in Paisley.

He told the Tele: “My hamstring is getting better, it’s a good thing I came off early and didn’t try to play on it, so it’s not too bad.

“I’ll definitely miss the game [against Queen of the South] but hopefully I’ll be back before the derby. That’s my plan. But you know how injuries are sometimes, you can’t rush yourself.

“The target is to get back for the derby. Alison and Jane are the physios and they’ve looked over it and think that it’s not a really bad one. Maybe two weeks or seven to 10 days.”

The 23-year-old admits that his injury couldn’t have come at a worse time considering his team-mate and fellow forward Jai Quitongo is also crocked.

He said: “It’s funny because a couple of weeks back we had everybody fit, a squad of 20-plus. You think to yourself ‘am I going to start or be on the bench’ because the squad is really, really beefy - a lot of players.

“But the last few weeks myself, Jai [Quitongo], Jamie [Lindsay], it’s almost like we’ve literally picked up a whole bunch of injuries at the same time. That’s not what we want. But we did well regardless on Saturday [against Hibs] and we even did well against Dunfermline, but we were unlucky with that result.”

Oyenuga does believe, however, that whoever comes in to replace their injured team-mates will do a good job.

Jamie McDonagh moved up front against Hibs when Oyenuga went off, and the London-born striker insists his Northern Irish counterpart has all the attributes to do a great job in his absence.

He continued: “I’m sure the boys who might get the chance to come in now will be just as good and capable and will try their best.

“Jamie has a lot of ability. He’s very fast and he’s nippy. The transition to go from right-back to up front and get man of the match [from BBC Alba], he’s done brilliantly. And credit to him because he’s come in, worked hard and adapted his game.

“I’m sure whatever the gaffer decides to do, we’ve got a strong enough squad to compete, as you saw on Saturday against probably the best team in our division.”

With the festive football almost upon us, Oyenuga says he enjoys the build-up of fixtures. Ton have six games between now and the end of January, and the striker insists he prefers to be playing on a regular basis than be kicking his heels at home. 

And he praised Jim Duffy and his assistant Craig McPherson for their festive regime.

He added: “I prefer to play than not to play, so I don’t mind the festive period. You like to keep yourself ticking over, and playing games is the best way to do that.

“The gaffer and Hagi are really good here and they work it well. They give us time to play and recover but also enjoy the festive period with our families.”