Ross County midfielder Tim Chow has learned his lesson after being sent off on his full debut against Aberdeen according to Staggies’ manager Jim McIntyre.
Chow’s first start for County was brought to a premature end at Pittodrie in October when he was shown a red card after just 21 minutes for a reckless challenge on Jonny Hayes, with the Dons going on to win 4-0.
The 22-year-old joined the Highlanders from Wigan Athletic in the summer, having made only 19 appearances for the English Championship club, and given his lack of experience McIntyre reckons Chow has reacted well since being recalled to the team in recent weeks.
County come up against the Dons again at Victoria Park tomorrow, and McIntyre said: “Tim’s been excellent. He’s done really well. He more than most that day was feeling it. He knew he’d let himself down.
“People have to remember Tim had relatively little first-team experience when he came here.
“He has certainly shown a maturity since then and he’s certainly learned from it.
“There have been several other instances where he could have gone flying into tackles, but didn’t.
“He’s an intelligent kid and a good player – he keeps it nice and simple, which we like in midfield. He’s trying to play the way we want to and has been doing well.
“He and Christopher Routis have been doing really well together and have formed a good partnership. They look good together.”
Chow’s red card was County’s third dismissal in five matches, with defender Jay McEveley given his marching orders in a 1-1 home draw against Motherwell and midfielder Ian McShane seeing red in the 0-0 draw against Hearts at Tynecastle, both in September. Discipline has improved in his side in recent weeks, and the manager added: “We’ve certainly been preaching to the players that they can’t go to ground and we’ve been better of late. The players have not put themselves in any predicament where they’ve given the referee a decision to make.
“That’s the important aspect. Players need to make sure they’re in the right positions because, generally, it is because they’re not in the right position that they have to go sliding about.
“We’ve been working hard on that to try to make sure the players are being clever.
“When a player is on a booking there’s absolutely no way he can go to ground.”