Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Kelly ready to take his chance after first Staggies start in Tannadice defeat

Ross County midfielder Stephen Kelly in action.
Ross County midfielder Stephen Kelly in action.

Ross County midfielder Stephen Kelly feels ready to grasp his chance after being handed a long-awaited start in Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Dundee United.

Kelly, on a season-long loan from Rangers, had made seven appearances which had all come from the bench prior to the trip to Tannadice.

The Scotland under-21 international enjoyed a productive loan spell with Championship side Ayr United last season, winning the Honest Men’s young player of the year award.

Having waited for his opportunity, Kelly is now eager to make an impact in Stuart Kettlewell’s starting line-up.

Kelly said: “It was my first proper taste of Premiership football.

“It’s good to get back playing although I felt it a bit in the legs towards the end.

“I felt like I had been doing well the last few weeks and the manager said he thought I’d been doing better coming off the bench.

“I just made sure I kept training well and waiting for my chance. I was glad to get it and even though we never got the result I thought the team performed pretty well overall.

“It’s always hard coming off the bench, difficult to get a rhythm, but you just have to keep training well and when you get your chance be ready.

“I felt I coped fine. Hopefully I can build on it.

“All the guys have been great here, encouraging and I can’t complain.

“I felt as the game went on I grew into it a bit more.”

Stephen Kelly, left, in a challenge with Dundee United’s Callum Butcher

Kelly insists he remains in regular dialogue with his parent club at Ibrox, with the 20-year-old adding: “I speak to Billy Kirkwood a lot, who was there on Saturday. He keeps in touch with all the players out on loan.

“He is always phoning asking about training and games and stuff.

“I’m just trying to focus on getting in the team here at County. If ever I need to speak to anyone at Rangers they are more than happy to.

“But once you are away it’s more about focusing on where you are.”

Kelly was frustrated to leave empty-handed against United, but is hopeful his side can end a five-match streak without a league win when they host Livingston on Friday.

Kelly added: “The second half we probably dominated and a wee bit more clinical in both boxes we might have come away with something.

“Livingston is always a tough game no matter what. Hopefully with some fans back it might help us.”