Three things to take away from Ross County's home defeat to Livingston in the Scottish Premiership
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Ross County remain bottom of the Scottish Premiership table after a 2–0 home defeat to Livingston.
Things had looked in the balance despite an Andrew Shinnie strike being ruled out for offside, and there was even reason to be optimistic from a Staggies point of view early in the second half when they were bearing down on the Livi goal with regularity.
A quickfire double from Bruce Anderson, though, made sure the points would be leaving Dingwall, and an intervention from VAR to chalk off Jordan White's "goal" ensured there would be no late comeback.
With the league table still looking bleak for County, then, here are three things to take away from their performance against Livingston.
Lacking lefties
I've written before about Owura Edwards' tendency to cut back inside from the left flank on to his stronger right foot, but it struck me against Livingston that he is by no means alone in that.
At various times, Kazeem Olaigbe, Ross Callachan and Jordan White all did the same thing.
No matter how close to the byline any of them get, defenders know that they will always be looking to turn back on to their right foot eventually, and that makes County easier to defend against.
Generally speaking, there are not many left-footed players in the County squad – George Harmon, Alex Iacovitti and the injured Ben Purrington come to mind, but as things stand it is almost a non-existent option in the final third.
Maybe that is an area Malky Mackay should be looking to address in the transfer window this month to bring a better balance to the Staggies attack.
Jordy Hiwula's thoughts: "I put a big responsibility on my shoulders to score – especially coming on today. We just need to keep working on it during the week, getting into those positions and try to put the ball in the back of the net.
"When the transfer window opens, managers always want to bring in one or two players – that's pretty normal – and competition is healthy.
"If anyone comes in, we will be competing against each other to try and get in the starting 11. We just need everybody to be pulling in the same direction and working hard."
Fortress no more
It feels like a long time since we could say Ross County's home form was reliable.
This time last year, the Staggies were about to embark on a seven-match unbeaten run in Dingwall, but with just eight points from their 11 home league matches so far this season it's difficult to see any sort of repeat happening.
That has had a knock-on effect on the supporters too. I can't remember the last time the Global Energy Stadium emptied so quickly after the end of a match as it did against Livingston.
There was a point under Malky Mackay where the bond between the supporters and the players felt like a special one. Right now, they are nowhere near that, and why seems easy to see – this group of players are simply not delivering for them right now.
Malky Mackay's thoughts: “Our fans have been fantastic, they are a terrific fanbase and great people. I hope they back the team. I think what they are seeing is a team running hard to the 90th minute, and in every game.
“If they want to voice their feeling or come away early, that’s absolutely up to themselves and I’ve got no issues with our fans. They have been great for the football club and they continue to be.
“All I would say is, are you watching a team that are very close to winning the game? Yes you were."
Under pressure
Going into the match, County should have seen it as a chance to put some pressure on their rivals down at the bottom of the Premiership table.
Neither Dundee United or Motherwell were in action on Saturday, but instead of closing them down, defeat means the Staggies remain cut adrift at the foot of the table.
David Cancola said earlier this week that he did not like comparisons to last season, and I'm getting to the stage of agreeing with him – there will be no meteoric rise up into a European challenge this time around.
The points difference is not huge, but seeing how County are struggling to score goals, and in turn put points on the board, getting anywhere close the top six will be a phenomenal achievement.
I still believe this side have more than enough about them to avoid a relegation battle, but they will need to start showing it quickly, or else they will find it turns into a dog fight that is always difficult to move clear of.
Jordy Hiwula's thoughts: "We're at the bottom of the table, and we just need to take it one game at a time – we'll go to Motherwell next week and try to get three points.
"We really need to start getting results now. Games are coming thick and fast in the second half of the season, and you don't want to get to the point where you're running out of games.
"You just need to try and get off the mark, get that first result, and then things will take care of itself."
