Ross County defender Harry Souttar had a debut to forget as he scored an own goal in Motherwell’s 2-0 victory over the Staggies at Fir Park.
Souttar, who joined on loan from Stoke City on the day of the match, nodded past goalkeeper Aaron McCarey on the stroke of half-time to give Well the lead in what had been a poor encounter with little between the sides.
Motherwell doubled the lead just two minutes into the second-half through Curtis Main, with the result leaving County three points adrift at the foot of the Premiership with 15 matches left.
County made one change from the side knocked out of the Scottish Cup courtesy of Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Kilmarnock, with Marcus Fraser drafted in for the injured Jamie Lindsay, with new signings Harry Souttar and David Ngog included on the bench.
County started brightly but Motherwell created some early pressure, albeit from distance, with Nadir Ciftci seeing a shot deflected into the side-netting before Craig Tanner curled a free-kick marginally off target.
County struggled in their efforts to test the Motherwell backline, with Inih Effiong seeing an effort on the turn trundle just wide on 33 minutes after he had been played in by Jim O’Brien.
The game looked to be heading for a stalemate as the interval loomed, however disaster struck for debutant Souttar right on the stroke of half-time when he bulleted the ball straight into McCarey’s top corner in his attempt to head Chris Cadden’s cross behind goal.
Matters worsened for County just two minutes after the break however, as Motherwell doubled their advantage. Fraser claimed to have been fouled by Ciftci in the build-up, as the on-loan Celtic forward ran through before setting up Main to bundle home from close-range.
County rallied for a way back into the match and Ross Draper was unfortunate to be denied on two occasions in quick succession. His first effort from point-blank range, following Jason Naismith’s cross, was beaten away by goalkeeper Trevor Carson, with his second header from the resulting corner hacked off the line by Main, however there was no way back for the Staggies.