Ross County striker Kieran Phillips happy to take scrappy goals if it means Staggies move up Premiership table
Kieran Phillips will happily take goals however they come if it means he can keep contributing to Ross County push up the table in the Scottish Premiership.
The 25-year-old striker opened his Staggies account in the 3-1 win over Dundee last month, converting from close range after Kacper Lopata headed the ball back into the six-yard box.
His second would follow in County’s 1-0 win over Kilmarnock last time out, seeing a defender’s attempted clearance crash off his leg and into the top corner from similarly close range.
However, the scrappiness of the finish does a disservice to Phillips’ role in the build-up, playing a sumptuous flick through to Jordan White to tee up the goalscoring chance.
Having only moved to Dingwall from Huddersfield Town, via California, in January, he is pleased to have multiple goals to his name so quickly.
Even if they will not end up on his highlight reel, Phillips says he enjoys them all the same – if not more – than spectacular finishes.
He explained: “I did mean that flick! I honestly didn’t know whether it would get through to Jordan, but luckily I weighted it just right.
“I thought it was an assist at first, but then when he got fouled and it rolled through I thought I’d best get after it, and I threw my body at it.
“It looked like the defender was going to clear it, so I just went to try and block it in, and I put my leg in the right place and he hit it off me and into the roof of the net.
“With the one against Dundee, it’s not the prettiest two goals I’ve scored, but they all count the same so I’ll take them.
“Sometimes you like the scrappy goals more, because that’s when you know it’s going for you.
“I’m just happy for any goal to go in really. As a striker, you just want to be scoring, so hopefully that can continue.”
Phillips’ goals have coincided with an uptick in form for the Staggies, who have won three of their last four matches.
The triumph over Kilmarnock showed a different side to them, being able to grind out a victory when far from their best on the pitch.
Although they are now just two points off the top six with four games to go until the Premiership splits, Phillips insists nobody in Dingwall is getting carried away with what could still be achieved before the end of the season.
“It wasn’t the prettiest performance, but we got what we needed and that was the three points,” he reasoned.
“You can’t fault the lads, we battled for 90 minutes and more, so we’re happy to come away with the win.
“I think when we play like that, as a team and with everyone working for each other, and you get a few special moments, you can do anything.
“We’ve got a little bit of a break now, so we can use that to recover and work on what we want to take into the Hearts game.
“The top six is not something that we’re eyeing up particularly, we just want to do as well as we can and show how much the club has improved.
“I’m loving it here so far. It’s games like Kilmarnock where everyone is working for each other where you see what it really means to be a Ross County player.”
