County 'couldn't have afforded' Killie's Sheridan
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DEREK Adams believes one of Kilmarnock’s star signings illustrates perfectly just how well Ross County are performing in the SPL.
Cillian Sheridan, the former Celtic and Motherwell striker, was snapped up by the Rugby Park outfit from Bulgarians CSKA Sofia in early September.
On the face of it, Sheridan when available had all the hallmarks of a classic County-style signing – a 23-year-old of top flight pedigree whose career had foundered somewhat.
In reality, though, the five-goal striker was far beyond the financial reach of the Dingwall club.
County sit jointly with Killie in the table on 15 points, just three off second place and six from the summit.
That scenario, though, belies the gulf in financial muscle between the established SPL side and the newcomers.
Adams, seeking to extend a run of seven points from a possible nine in Ayr-shire this weekend, said: “Kilmarnock have done well.
“They spent big in taking in Cillian Sheridan, a player who has done exceptionally well for them. He is a good signing.
“They also have players like James Dayton and Gary Harkins, who was on the bench last week, and they can cause teams problems. They have good attacking options.
“We couldn’t have afforded Sheridan. He was far beyond our reach – two or three times what we can offer.
“Don’t believe everything you hear about clubs being short of money.”
There is satisfaction for the manager in County’s adaptation to SPL life, but he believes the team remain a long way away from fully establishing their SPL credentials.
In fact, that will only happen in Adams’ eyes when the season draws to a close with County secure for another top flight season.
The 37-year-old said: “We’ve had an excellent start to the season. We are sitting in a good position.
“We’re moving up the league and catching teams above us, although we probably feel we should be in a better position than we are.
“But I’m not going to be picky – we’ve had a great start.
“I didn’t expect the table to be as open as it is and I still think it will develop into a leading group, a middle and an end.
“We just want to pick up as many points as we can, 15 points is great so far.
“We’re on a difficult run where five of our last seven games including Kilmarnock have been away from home.
“But we are looking forward to going to Kilmarnock. It will be a difficult game.
“We’ll see what we can take back with us because they will obviously be hurting after defeat to Inverness and will want to make amends.
“When a team are wounded like that, it can be difficult for the opposition.
“But we have quality throughout the side and it is a big plus for us that we also have players who are hungry and dedicated.
“That’s why they are picking up points and winning games.
“We will be very difficult to beat at home, that’s for sure. Away from home it becomes a wee bit more difficult in the SPL.
“We’ll do our best to take as many wins as we can on our travels but it is difficult on the road.
“Sometimes you might get more possession away from home if the game opens up.
“But at home we have to be careful in what we do and make sure we establish ourselves as difficult to beat. We will only establish ourselves come the end of the season. We want to stay in the SPL, that’s our priority.”
Paul Lawson and Russell Duncan are still out injured for County. Mark Corcoran is back in training but not yet fit enough to feature.
Martin Scott went for an operation on his ankle yesterday (Thursday) and, depending on the outcome, is expected to miss a further three or four weeks.
