Ross County manager Don Cowie demands more self-pride from Dingwall players after Rangers battering at Hampden Park in Glasgow
Don Cowie will demand more self-pride from his players in the face of the kind of lost cause and adversity they encountered against Rangers.
The 6-0 Hampden Park humiliation stung the Ross County manager and he wants it to be a learning experience for a squad reshaped significantly in the summer.
Cowie, while acknowledging how tough it was for his players at the national stadium felt, at 3-0 down, they should have switched to damage limitation mode.
He said: “As we always do, we reflect on the game and have a debrief.
“It is about recognising you can go to the Old Firm and it is a difficult game, but once you get to two or three nil down, you have to make sure you stop the bleeding.
“That’s a collective thing we need to be better at, rather than about individuals.
“We can’t allow it to happen, as a football club.
“It comes down to self-pride, as a group.
“You can lose football matches, it happens - but there’s a manner in which to do it.
“That wasn’t one I want to see on a regular basis.”
Cowie feels the result, following on so swiftly from the League Cup exit to Spartans, can be harnessed as a motivator for the squad, with Aberdeen visiting at the weekend.
He said: “It is a long journey home for us at the best of times, but the manner of defeat probably exaggerates it even more after Hampden.
“At the same time, it gives us plenty of time to reflect on it.
“Nobody wants to lose matches, definitely not in the manner we did.
“I’ve been in that position many times playing Celtic or Rangers and it can be hard to stop the bleeding once they are on fire and playing with a freedom.
“It can seem no matter what you do, nothing impacts the game.
“As a collective, you have to somehow galvanise and make sure it doesn’t escalate.
“Even at 5-0, disappointing as it was, you need to make sure it doesn’t become six in the last minute.
“That all just comes down to self-pride, really.”
