Stornoway teen Andrew MacLeod hoping to repay faith of Ross County manager Don Cowie after appearing in all four League Cup group games
Stornoway teenager Andrew MacLeod says he wants to repay the faith shown in him by manager Don Cowie and make the most of his opportunity in the Ross County first team.
The 19-year-old featured in all of the Staggies’ League Cup group stage matches as the team progressed into the second round as a seed with a record of four wins out of four.
Amongst that, MacLeod started two games – the bookends against Stranraer and Stirling Albion – and felt he improved with every chance he had to step on to the pitch.
Ahead of the first Premiership game of the season this weekend against Motherwell, then, he is keen to keep getting better whenever trusted to do a job for the first team.
“The gaffer has obviously trusted me in every single one of the games, because I’ve been involved,” MacLeod reasoned.
“I can’t really thank him enough, because he’s given me plenty of opportunities across pre-season and the League Cup. I just want to repay his trust really.
“In the first game, I didn’t feel like I did enough to reward him for starting me, so I felt like I had to do well when I got an opportunity in the other games.
“That was tough to deal with, because I felt like I didn’t show what I could do. I didn’t show what I show the gaffer and the boys in training.
“I definitely improved as the group went on, so hopefully that continues. I think I just grew more confident, and realised I have to take this opportunity I’ve been given.
“I don’t want to be sitting in six months time regretting it, so I have to go for it.”
MacLeod is attempting to step up several levels after an impressive loan spell in the Highland League with Nairn County last season, where he showed both his versatility across the pitch and an eye for goal as he finished the campaign as the top scorer at Station Park.
That means the teenager will feel comfortable in a variety of roles for County, and his teammates already seem to have confidence in MacLeod’s ability too.
“I feel as is I can play anywhere in midfield – as a six, eight or a 10,” he explained.
“I’ve got a forward-thinking mentality, so I can make good runs forward, and then when Jordan (White) came on last week I was linking up with him well and made runs off him.
“I feel like I’ve got a good understanding with the strikers, and you could see the rotations against Stirling between me and the other midfielders, so I feel like it can work any way we line up.
“With two others who are very comfortable on the ball in midfield, and knowing they trust me, we know we can keep the ball which is really good too.”
“I definitely feel like I’ve got their trust. Before the games most of the boys have been speaking to me telling me to do my thing, because they know what I can do. It’s just about showing it.”
Ross County as a whole will be going into this weekend’s trip to Fir Park with momentum after a perfect League Cup group stage, but a recurring message from manager Don Cowie has been the need to improve with every passing match.
MacLeod echoes those sentiments, and he believes the new arrivals into County’s squad this summer can help prevent a repeat of last season’s poor results against Motherwell.
“The new boys have been a breath of fresh air,” he added.
“It’s always a challenge when there’s so much change, and there always seems to be a lot of change, but they’ve definitely added quality and that will definitely help us going forward.
“At the start of the League Cup group we set out to win four games from four, and we did that. That was the main objective, but we know we can still improve on things.
“We know as a group in there that we can do better. Last weekend there were times in the game where we probably needed to learn how to keep the ball as a team.
“We know we’ve got the quality in the team to hurt anyone, but all week we’ve been focusing on Motherwell. That’s our next challenge.”
