Ross County

Ross County manager Malky Mackay insists that neither he nor his players can dwell on their 4-0 league defeat by Aberdeen at the weekend.

They face the same opposition in the quarter-finals of the Viaplay Cup on Wednesday, and Mackay wants to see improvements and for his team to start afresh.

“It’s what you have got to to do in every week in this division,” he said. “If you don’t do that then you go into the doldrums over mistakes in one game.

“We have a really good group of players who have given a good account of themselves in the Premiership so far this season.

“There’s days where we are off it. You hope there’s not too many of them and there wasn’t last year in the general scheme of things.

“But you have got to make sure you don’t give good players the time and space to do what they want to do.

“The Viaplay Cup, you go to Hampden in the semi-finals, it’s what every player should want. It’s certainly what I would want.

“And we know we have a tough game coming up, against a team that have just beaten us 4-0.

“No doubt we have a tough game but we have to make sure we make it a tough game on the night for them.”

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Ross County welcome Aberdeen to Dingwall for their Viaplay Cup quarter-final on Wednesday.

Malky Mackay’s men lost 4-0 against the Dons on Sunday in the Scottish Premiership, and will have to perform better here if they are to make it to Hampden.

Choose your County XI here.

Ross Morren, The County Corner podcast, external

Ross County’s performance and result against Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Sunday was the perfect definition of an 'off day'.

Malky Mackay’s side have set themselves very high standards during an impressive start to the season, so there was optimism amongst County fans that they could take advantage of any potential European hangover the Dons may have been suffering.

I thought County were the better side for most of the first half, asking questions of the Aberdeen defence without creating any clear-cut chances.

After Aberdeen scored the opening goal, County's response was positive and they could have equalised if it wasn’t for a decent save from Kelle Roos to deny James Brown.

County then had a free kick in a dangerous area as they continued to search for an equaliser, but twenty seconds later, they were 2-0 down. Mackay will be frustrated at his side losing a goal like that.

Aberdeen got off to a quick start in the second half, caught County napping, and stormed into a 4-0 lead, which is how the match ended.

Every team has an off day once in a while, and that’s what it felt like for County fans at Pittodrie. Aberdeen punished County’s mistakes and were absolutely ruthless when chances came their way.

County have the perfect opportunity to try and make amends for the match at Pittodrie as they welcome Aberdeen to Dingwall on Wednesday night in the quarterfinals of the Viaplay Cup.

Simon Murray’s love affair with the competition so far this season has been well documented, with the striker grabbing seven goals in just five games, He’ll need to be at his best, along with every other County player on the night, if The Staggies are to book their first trip to Hampden since 2016.

Young Wigan striker Josh Stones is the latest player to have to choose between England and Scotland - the Leeds-born 19-year-old, who had a brief loan spell with Ross County, has played for England schoolboys but qualifies for Scotland through his grandmother. (Scottish Sun)

Read the rest of Monday's gossip.

Ross County manager Malky Mackay: "I thought we started really well. The first 15-20 minutes we had two great chances. The substitutes seemed to stall us.

"The second goal gives them momentum. The first 20 minutes of that second half, we concede two really poor goals and that kills the game.

"We come out of here well beaten by Aberdeen with Wednesday night in mind, knowing we have to be better than that.

"There will be nothing brushed under the carpet. We've not had too many days like that the last couple of years. We were playing against a good team. If you make basic errors a good players, you get punished."

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Did you travel to Pittodrie to take in the battering in Aberdeen?

Wherever you followed along, we want to know where you think Ross County went wrong.

Get in touch.

Tyrone Smith, BBC Sport Scotland at Pittodrie

Make no mistake, this was a big, big win for Aberdeen.

Without one in the league until today’s game, a victory was needed – to get that monkey of their back, and ease some of the pressure that comes with a run like that.

It didn’t matter how they got it, they just had to get it. They did, and in the end in some style too.

Manager Barry Robson will be hoping it can be a real platform upon which his side can now build, and seeing both Miovski and Duk getting their names on the scoresheet today will give him, and the Pittodrie faithful, plenty of belief that can be the case.

As for County, a disappointing afternoon, but the positive is that they have a quickfire chance to exact some revenge, when the sides meet in Dingwall on Viaplay Cup business on Wednesday night.

It's hard to sing the praises of many County players on a dismal day in Aberdeen, but Ryan Leak atleast showed endeavour in the centre of the park.

He also had the visitors' best chance of the game, when he rose highest at a corner to head fractionally wide.

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Despite being held to a 1-1 draw at home to Livingston, Malky Mackay was full of praise for the performance of his County side.

Perhaps unsurprisingly then, he names the same starting XI as County look to kick up the table with a win at Pittodrie.

The attacking trio of Yan Dhanda, Jordan White and in-form Simon Murray will aim to pose problems for the hosts, while Connor Randall continues in his new midfield berth.

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Aberdeen: Roos, Devlin, Rubezic, Jensen, McGarry, Shinnie, Gartenmann, Barron, McGrath, Miovski, Duk.

Substitutes: Doohan, Mackenzie, Clarkson, Gueye, Hayes, Sokler, Polvara, Duncan, MacDonald.

Ross County: Laidlaw, Brown, Bladwin, Nightingale, Leak, Reid, Randall, Turner, Dhanda, Murray, White.

Substitutes: Munro, Purrington, Sims, Loturi, Harmon, Henderson, High, Samuel, Brophy.

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Aberdeen remain without forward Shayden Morris due to a hamstring injury.

Ross County have Scott Allardice and Max Sheaf closing in on fitness. Midfielders Ross Callachan and Ben Paton remain out with long-term knee

injuries.

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Image source, SNS

• Although Aberdeen have only won one of their last seven league meetings with Ross County (D4 L2), that was the most recent in April last season (1-0).

• Aberdeen are yet to win a match this season in the Scottish Premiership (P5 D2 L3); the last time they failed to win any of their opening six matches of a top-flight season was in 1999/2000 when they lost their first six.

• Ross County have won three of their last seven top-flight matches away from home (L4), which is as many wins as they managed in their previous 18 on the road.

• Ross County have lost just one of their last five league visits to Aberdeen (W2 D2), avoiding defeat in their last three (W1 D2) since a 2-0 defeat in December 2020.

• Only three teams (Celtic, Rangers and Hearts) scored more goals in the Scottish Premiership last season than Aberdeen, but only St. Johnstone (2) have scored fewer goals than Aberdeen’s three this season.

Ross County are Pittodrie bound on Sunday for part one of a double-header with floundering Aberdeen.

Make yourself the manager and choose your County formation and starting XI here.

Ross Morren, The County Corner podcast, external

County fans returned from the international break with plenty of optimism following a good start to the season. There was also a high level of intrigue to see if Malky Mackay’s side can build on the momentum gained from picking up six points in the opening four matches.

The first test County faced from Livingston on Saturday was an unexpected one. Both sides were forced to alter their pre-match routine as kick-off was delayed by 15 minutes due to the visitors' team bus breaking down.

When the match finally got under way, County looked more likely to break the deadlock. Jordan White was unlucky on a couple of occasions before showing how crucial he is to this County side as he played a big part in Simon Murray's opening goal early in the second half.

It was Murray’s ninth goal of the season in all competitions. He’s a player full of confidence right now and you can see that in all aspects of his play. Having opened his league account last time out against Kilmarnock, it was great to see him make it two goals in two Premiership matches.

It felt like there was only going to be one winner from then on. Livingston showed little attacking threat until Bruce Anderson capitalised on slack County defending to fire past Ross Laidlaw to make it 1-1.

County’s backline was excellent throughout the match, but unfortunately the one mistake they made was punished emphatically. Anderson’s two goals in Dingwall back in January came against the run of play and his equaliser on Saturday was once again a sucker punch.

At full-time, it felt like we were robbed of an additional two points. However, those kind of results tend to balance out over the course of a season.

The draw hasn’t dampened County fans’ spirits. Last season, that was a match the Staggies could have lost due to an inability to take the chances that came their way, or they could have been susceptible to another defensive mistake.

But now there’s possibly a sense of frustration from Malky's players at not taking all three points, which is a good thing. It shows how much this County side’s standards have been raised in a short time.

Ross County manager Malky Mackay has explained the vital role he hopes former defender Carl Tremarco will play as the Scottish Premiership club's new loans manager. (Press & Journal), external

Read Tuesday's Scottish Gossip in full here.

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Ross County striker Simon Murray has been named in Sportscene presenter Jonathan Sutherland's team of the week for his performance in the Dingwall side's 1-1 draw with Livingston.

Murray's hold-up play was impressive throughout the game, and he took his goal expertly.

Image source, BBC Sport

We asked for your views following Ross County's draw with Livingston

David: 1 or 2 chances that were not taken again. Poor defence at Livingston goal. We played well but at the end of the day we only got 1 point, which is rather frustrating.

Ross County manager Malky Mackay: "I'm really happy with my team. I thought we started really well today and created a number of chances in the first-half.

"We went in at half-time in control. We got the goal in the second-half, but I knew Bruce Anderson would be dangerous.

"Livingston have shown they can fight and scrap in this division. I think over the course of the season, we'll look at that as a point gained."

On the form of Simon Murray, he said: "[He's] Full of confidence. He's a great lad, so enthusiastic. He's worked hard pre-season. We've got an absolute goalscorer. We've got options up there.

"Last season, in the first-half of the season, we struggled to score goals. I think we shouldn't struggle as much this year."

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