Five games that turned Ross County's season around to stay in the Premiership
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Ross County did it. They escaped relegation on the final day of the season with a 2–1 victory at Motherwell and will remain in the Premiership.
It is an incredible turnaround from before the new year when it looked likely they would finish in the bottom two after failing to win between September and the end of December.
We look at the five games which defined Ross County's turnaround to remain in the Premiership this season.
Ross County 0 Hamilton Academical 2
It was the last game in charge for former manager Stuart Kettlewell who was sacked minutes after the final whistle in Dingwall.
With no win since September, The Staggies were rock bottom of the Premiership after going down to goals from Ross Callachan and Scott Martin which put Hamilton four points ahead of Ross County.
Two days later, John Hughes was appointed manager and given the task of saving them from the drop.
First league win in 13 matches and off bottom of the table.
The Staggies finished 2020 by moving off the bottom of the table and ending their winless run of 13 games with a surprise victory at Easter Road.
Goals from Harry Paton and Oli Shaw moved the Staggies above Hamilton Academical into 11th place by one point.
It was the first of impressive victories over teams in the top-six which took place in 2021.
Bonus points against the top six
One of the biggest shocks of the Premiership season, despite Ross County knocking Celtic out of the League Cup in November.
January transfer signing Jordan White scored the only goal of the game to defeat the former champions. It came at a time shortly after Hamilton grabbed a draw against Rangers.
It moved Ross County to 10th in the table above Kilmarnock and gave belief that they could avoid relegation.
Ross County also recorded an impressive 4–1 victory over Aberdeen in January which moved them off the bottom of the table as they kept in touch with fellow strugglers in the table.
Staggies avoid defeat against relegation rivals and pick up 10 points out of 15 in the split.
The first game of the split and away to one of Ross County's rivals to avoid relegation.
Ross County had beat Kilmarnock 3–2 at Dingwall and Hamilton Academical 2–1 weeks before the split.
But heading to Rugby Park and avoiding defeat to stay 10th at that point was perhaps a more important result and led to the Staggies picking up 10 points out of 15 in the final five matches.
A crazy opening 15 minutes saw Killie 2–1 ahead thanks to goals from Chris Burke and Mitch Pinnock in between Michael Gardyne's equaliser. But the Staggies stampeded their way to level the score in the second half through Alex Iacovitti.
Both teams could have won the game, but the draw was enough to show Ross County had the fight to stay in the Premiership.
Ross County 2 Hamilton Academical 1
It was the game Ross County had to win to ensure they avoided automatic relegation and they rose to the occasion.
Despite going behind to a Scott McCann strike, goals from Blair Spittal and Charlie Lakin gave the Staggies a vital win and condemned Hamilton to the Championship.
It was the first time since the opening two games of the campaign when they won back to back matches and continue the momentum to victory at Fir Park and ensure they stay in the top flight for the third season in a row.
