Ross County manager John Hughes out to paint pictures for Staggies
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Ross County manager John Hughes has been limited to what he can do in training by the weather.
Conditions have meant the Staggies have only trained outside on a full pitch once since Hughes took charge in December.
In that time, County have produced some hugely important results, but consistency has been a major issue.
That was clearly apparent last weekend, when they followed up a big win at Hamilton with a defeat at home to Dundee United.
For Hughes, there is still plenty of work to be done during the week, and he is looking forward to a time when weather is no longer an issue.
“We’re very lucky that we’ve got an indoor arena up here, so we’re always training, but there’s training and there’s coaching,” he explained.
“When you go inside that arena it’s more training.
“When you’re on a football pitch where it’s a bigger size and you can slow it down, that’s more coaching. I haven’t been on the outside pitch since I came in, so that’s a little bit frustrating.
“What we’re looking to do is work on terminology, work on tactics, and even when we do go on the big pitch, it’s just with training shoes on to walk through things to give them an idea.
“I would love to speed it up and go against opposition.
“The only time I did do 11 against 11 was when the groundsman let us have the pitch, and we set up an opposition like Hamilton, and I think we benefited so much from that.
“You can paint pictures for them, put ideas in their heads. It’s just one of those things, but it will be the same for every other team.”
Hughes does appreciate that County are lucky to have an indoor option, with many other clubs around the country more reliant on their outdoor facilities that are open to the elements.
He is also keen to ensure that it does not become an excuse for the squad.
“We’re not grumbling about it, we’re lucky because we have that indoor option and we can have a great session in there,” Hughes said.
“The players get stuck into each other, which I like, they’re competitive.
“Sometimes you’re telling the boys to calm down, so I have no complaints but I would love to get out on that big pitch.
“We’ve had good results without it though, so there’s no excuse. Hopefully that will be the case again on Saturday.”
