Jim McIntyre admits he would be "crazy" not to consider throwing Liam Boyce back into his Ross County side for the League Cup semi-final against Celtic on Sunday.

The striker has been on the sidelines since the festive period after breaking his hand in the 3-2 win over Kilmarnock on December 29.

He has resumed training this week, however, and is available for selection as the Staggies look to book a place in their second cup final in seven seasons.

When asked if he was willing to risk the 24-year-old, who was on fire for County before his injury setback, McIntyre was optimistic.

"The advice we have been given is that as soon as he joins in training he is available for selection so I think you would be crazy not to think about putting Liam in," he said.

"He has scored 17 goals in 24 appearances, I think, so with stats like that then - when you create chances against Celtic you have to take them - he has been a key player for us this year and it is just great to have him back in the squad.

"Towards the end of the week we will know if we think he is capable of being involved or not.

"He has done a lot of fitness work on his own. He has not been able to do football movements basically because he has not been allowed any contact.

"It has healed really well. It is where it should be at this stage. It is normally a six-week injury and it will be five weeks on the Saturday and he still has a protective cast that he can play with.

"He's desperate to play and delighted to get it off, it's such a huge match and he wants to be a part of that."

While Ronny Deila says he won't discuss Celtic's defeat to Ross County the last time the side's met at Hampden, in 2010, Jim McIntyre is also cautious of mentioning it for different reasons.

The Staggies boss doesn't want to make comparisons between the two squads and would rather his players make their own history.

"It's a totally different team, it's a different era," he said. "That team are still held in such high regard and rightly so.

"It was a fantastic achievement but we are a totally different team and we want to make our own memories."