Ross County miles away from Rangers level, says Kettlewell
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Stuart Kettlewell says Ross County’s players have not given a good enough account of themselves against Scottish football’s giants so far this season.
Rangers were the visitors to Dingwall on Wednesday night and ran out 4-0 winners, just 11 days after the Staggies were thumped 6-0 at Celtic Park.
County were massive underdogs going into both matches, and Kettlewell believes they will not be judged on how they fared against the Glasgow sides, but he is still disappointed that his squad have not done themselves justice.
“We have to be brutally honest, we were worlds apart in our play, we weren’t able to compete with Rangers other than in the first 15 minutes of the game,” he said.
“We set out a slightly different gameplan, which we felt was working relatively well at that point.
“Then we get a moment of adversity where we concede a tap in from two or three yards out at the back post. From our point of view, we don’t react in the correct manner.
“We were extremely passive, and we were poor in possession.
“Rangers built up a good head of steam but sometimes we’re the architects of our own downfall.
“We don’t feel any of us have given a good account of ourselves for what we think is our level of ability and how we can compete in these games.Tom Grivosti picked up a knock and had to be replaced, with a late assessment to be made before tomorrow’s trip to Hamilton.
New Douglas Park is a stage County are more likely to be judged.
Pre-season expectations had both teams hovering around the bottom of the table, but Kettlewell believes it has become even more important after another heavy loss.
“Arguably Hamilton are a club that’s a similar size and nature to ourselves, so we know that becomes an even bigger emphasis to see how we respond from this defeat,” Kettlewell added.
