Ross County V Dundee at Victoria Park : Match Preview

26 September 2014 15:31
Ross County V Dundee - view commentary, squad, and statistics of the game live.


Brittain eyes defensive improvement

Ross County have surrendered the first goal in every match they have played this season.

Now skipper Richie Brittain has told his team-mates it is time they stopped leaving themselves with a mountain to climb.

The pointless Staggies are rooted to the bottom of the Scottish Premiership table with seven straight defeats.

They have shipped 19 goals in that miserable run and were also knocked out of the League Cup on Tuesday as they slumped to a 2-0 defeat to Championship outfit Hibernian.

But Brittain admits the Dingwall outfit have done themselves no favours by allowing their opponents to grab the initiative with the opening strike.

Now he has urged his County colleagues to make a positive start against Dundee on Saturday and take the game by the scruff of the neck.

Speaking ahead of the Global Energy Arena clash, Brittain said: "It's a different type of pressure when you go a goal in front. You have to lead the game and see it out.

"But when you go behind as we have done a lot this season, you find yourself chasing the game and taking more chances.

"We want to get that lead and allow ourselves to sit in and soak up pressure, and then maybe play on the counter-attack - taking advantage of the other side's desperation.

"That is our aim. We know to win games of football you need to go goals in front, so our main target for Saturday is to get the first goal and build from there."

Simon Ferry insists Dundee can bounce back from their double derby defeat if they can repeat their Tannadice display.

The Dark Blues were thrashed 4-1 by their city rivals United in last Sunday's Scottish Premiership clash.

They regained some pride, however, with a thrilling first-half display in Wednesday's League Cup re-match before Jaroslaw Fojut handed the 10-man visitors another painful lesson with his last-gasp winner for Jackie McNamara's Terrors.

But midfielder Ferry said: "We just need to pick ourselves up and aim to take the three points at Ross County.

"If we can work the way we did at Tannadice, I have no doubt we will get a result.

"We were due the fans a performance after Sunday. To lose four goals in any game is not good enough.

"We wanted to put that right tonight and I think we showed that. We battered them in that opening 20 minutes.

"We didn't panic after Sunday because we knew that the goals had come from our own mistakes.

"We showed we could match them right up until the sending off, which changed the game."

Sunday's result had rocked Paul Hartley and his troops but they flew out of the traps at Tannadice three days later as they pinned the Arabs back into their own half with some breathless football.

They missed their big chance, however, when Radoslaw Cierzniak saved Greg Stewart's 18th-minute penalty before the balance of the match took a decisive swing in the home side's favour when Martin Boyle was shown a straight red card for hauling back Stuart Armstrong.

Dundee were brave in defence but could not hold on as Fojut snatched victory for United in stoppage time.

"The boys are still devastated," admitted Ferry. "Going down to 10 men put us on the back foot and we had to defend for 60-odd minutes.

"But I thought we did brilliantly after that. To lose it in the last minute as well makes it really hard to take."


Source: PA