Don Cowie preparing for ‘best version’ of Celtic as Ross County host defending Premiership champions in Dingwall
Don Cowie believes that Ross County can take encouragement from their last home match against Celtic – but says they are preparing for the very best version of the defending Premiership champions in Dingwall this weekend.
Celtic will make the journey up to the Highlands with a double-digit lead at the top of the table, but taking on a County team who have claimed 10 points from their last four matches.
However, late goals from Alistair Johnston and Nicolas Kuhn turned the game around in favour of the Glasgow giants.
Cowie will be preparing his side for another tough game, and he knows that his players will need to maintain their concentration levels for the full match to come away with a positive result.
“We’ve always got to expect the best version of them,” Cowie stressed.
“When it’s the best version, they are easily the best team in the country. We will be ready for that, but at the same time we have to be ready if they are not at their best, and try to take advantage of that.
“We have to be at our best. Without the ball the concentration levels have to be at a top level throughout the whole game, and then when we get those opportunities we have to be clinical.
“A couple of months ago when we played them, we showed we have a good understanding of how to play against them – but they have still got real quality and can hurt you at any time.
“It’s just about putting a complete performance together to get a result.”
Although Kuhn scored the winning goal last time he was in Dingwall, that was just one of a number of big moments the 25-year-old has been involved in for Celtic this season.
Nobody has more goal contributions in the Scottish Premiership this season, so Cowie knows he will be a danger this weekend.
“I think he had a challenging year last season,” Cowie recalled.
“He was unwell for a period and it really disrupted him. He has started this season incredibly well and just maintained that throughout the campaign so far.
“He has probably been the player of the season in the league. He’s a real threat, scoring and assisting, he looks strong, pacy – he’s a player we have to be prepared for and on our guard for.
“That’s something we will be looking at in the next coming days, how we deal with it.”
