Ross County manager delighted with impact of late saviour Matthew Wright against Rangers
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Malky Mackay paid tribute to Matthew Wright after the teenager came off the bench to make an immediate impact against Rangers.
Thrown on in the final 10 minutes with Ross County 3–2 down, 19-year-old Wright scored a 96th minute equaliser with his first touch inside an opposition’s box in the SPFL.
After spending the first half of the campaign out on loan at Brora Rangers, where he had been the Highland League’s top scorer, Mackay was adamant he wanted a close look at Wright this month and ruled out the prospect of another quick temporary departure.
Now it seems Wright is set to spend the rest of the campaign in Dingwall, as Mackay was delighted with his impact against the defending Premiership champions.
“I’m really happy for Matthew,” Mackay said.
“It’s great credit to Steven Ferguson, who was our academy director for 10 years.
“He brought through a lot of youngsters, and anyone who knows this part of the world knows the challenge of bringing through young players. Matty and Adam MacKinnon are both from Stornoway.
“That’s 10 years of mum and dad getting on a ferry and then driving for another two hours to come here two nights-a-week and on Saturdays.
“I’m delighted for his family, and the boy will score goals.
“Him and Adam are here on merit right now, and in the last 10 minutes balls were bouncing off them but I was delighted he managed to get the ball in the net.”
At one stage it looked like the Staggies may have been on course to take more than a point against Rangers, overturning an early Amad Diallo goal to go into half time 2–1 ahead.
As far as Mackay was concerned, it was County’s discipline and composure that kept them in the hunt for a result throughout.
“It was the belief – we’ve managed to score twice against Rangers already this year, so we knew it was about being disciplined,” he explained.
“I talked to them about their mentality, to make sure they came out and had belief. That meant that once we did go behind, we stayed calm. We knew we would (get chances) if we made the correct decisions, and I thought we did.”
