Home   Sport   Article

Ross County manager Malky Mackay was pleased with resilience Staggies showed to take point from St Mirren in Paisley


By Andrew Henderson

Easier access to your trusted, local news. Subscribe to a digital package and support local news publishing.



Click here to sign up to our free newsletters!

Ross County battled to a well-earned point against St Mirren in Paisley on Wednesday night.

The goalkeepers were the stars of the show, with Jak Alnwick making several saves in the first half and counterpart Ashley Maynard-Brewer doing the same after the interval to keep the game goalless.

A point means that the Staggies have lost just one of their last five matches – to defending champions Rangers – and manager Malky Mackay was generally pleased to take something back to Dingwall, and especially at keeping another clean sheet.

“I thought in the first half we had a really good go at them and had the better chances,” 49-year-old Mackay explained.

“I think Jim (Goodwin) would probably accept that. Then they came out really strongly after half time and we had to defend for our lives.

Malky Mackay was pleased to see Ross County pick up another clean sheet away at St Mirren. Picture: Ken Macpherson
Malky Mackay was pleased to see Ross County pick up another clean sheet away at St Mirren. Picture: Ken Macpherson

“I felt that with 20 minutes to go we had some calm heads and managed to play through them, and we created three chances near the end, so it was a really good game for the layman.

“It was always going to be really tough, I had no doubts that we would have to be on our mettle from minute one – which I thought we were. It’s another clean sheet, and we’ve now only had one defeat in five.

“I firmly believe we’ve got a group that are as good as anything in the league.”

The bottom half of the Premiership table is now looking quite congested ahead of a busy run of matches to close out the year.

The standings will change quickly purely due to the number of games being played, and Mackay is optimistic County can begin to rise up.

“It’s just about that consistency and making sure we get clean sheets,” he said.

“We always look as if we’re going to score, I have no doubt about that, but clean sheets help as well.

“It’s now six points to sixth position.

“All along when we were (cut off at the bottom), if we hadn’t been playing well I would have been worried, but people have seen how we’ve done.

“It’s just about making sure that the group stay a bit more focused, take our chances and keep it tight.

“It’s a tough little run, but everybody is in the same boat. I’ve got a group here that I don’t fear going anywhere with.”

Mackay will likely have to make do without Alex Iacovitti for tomorrow’s trip to St Johnstone after the defender picked up a hamstring issue in Paisley.


Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.



This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More