No added significance to St Johnstone victory seeing tough run ahead for Ross County, says Stewart
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Ross Stewart does not think taking all three points from St Johnstone last weekend was more important because of the difficult run of games coming up in the weeks ahead.
Ross County host Aberdeen at the Global Energy Stadium on Sunday, before travelling down to Glasgow to face Rangers at Ibrox next Friday.
The opening two matches in the Betfred Cup group stage then break up the Premiership campaign, before the Staggies return to top flight action against Hibernian, who have also started the season very strongly.
Taking into account County’s match against Celtic two weeks ago, it means that four out of five league matches in this run will be against the teams that finished in the top four positions in the table last season, with last Saturday’s trip to Perth the odd game out in the current run.
For some, that made it all the more important that County claimed points from McDiarmid Park knowing that they would be unfancied at best in the matches to come, but that is not how Stewart sees the situation.
“We knew the tough run coming up, but I wouldn’t say it was more important to win that one,” Stewart explained.
“We go into every game wanting to win every game we play in, and that one was no different.
“We have not won in a while, so to get the 1–0 was really pleasing.
“With a tough run of fixtures it sets us up really well.”
Iain Vigurs’ goal was the difference between County and St Johnstone last weekend, but it was the defensive performance that caught the eye.
Coming off the back of a 5–0 defeat to Celtic, it was vital that the Staggies’ backline showed that they can stand up to pressure.
The win was also Ross County’s first since the second game of the season away at Hamilton, so three points will be a nice confidence booster.
“It had obviously been a wee while since we got a win,” Stewart added.
“We were never concerned, but to go to Perth, win 1–0 and get the clean sheet sets us up nicely going into a tough run of fixtures in the next few weeks.”
Read the full edition of today's North Star here.
