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.

Aberdeen form makes Ross County task no easier at Pittodrie, says Stuart Kettlewell

Stuart Kettlewell.
Stuart Kettlewell.

Ross County manager Stuart Kettlewell feels Aberdeen’s recent struggles will not make today’s task any easier for his side at Pittodrie.

County face a Dons side which has won just one of its last seven games, resulting in them dropping to fourth.

Midfielder Lewis Ferguson will be suspended for the Reds, having recently been among three players who had to self-isolate due to a Covid-19 outbreak in the Scotland under-21 camp, while injuries have also taken their toll on McInnes’ options.

Kettlewell, who takes a depleted Staggies squad along the A96 for today’s match, has been impressed by the strength in depth assembled by his opposite number.

Kettlewell said: “Pittodrie will throw up its own problems. It doesn’t matter what form Aberdeen are in because it is always such a difficult place to go.

“I was at a game between Aberdeen and Hamilton, one of the catch-up games. You look at their strength of squad and I was looking at their bench and the boys who can’t get on the pitch.

“They have an absolute wealth of talent. We know that is a different situation from what we are facing at the minute with our limited options.

“We have to look beyond that and deliver that solid game plan and be a tough nut to crack.”

County triumphed on their last visit to Pittodrie, with Billy Mckay’s double helping the Staggies run out 2-1 winners in one of their final matches prior to the curtailment of last season due to Covid-19.

Kettlewell feels the Staggies must once again look to thrive on the underdog tag, having faced Celtic and Rangers in their last two matches.

He added: “It was a good game and performance from us last time at Pittodrie.

“Aberdeen went down to 10 men and we capitalised on that. We have to go in with the right frame of mind after the last two games against Rangers and Celtic.

“For me there were more positives than negatives. We go against another one of the top teams in the country that have far greater resources than what we have.

“They will be expected to beat us and it will be up to us to upset the odds again. We need to take that tag most weeks, especially when we go away from home.”

“If we have that tactical nous and follow the instructions then we have a chance against anybody.

“We applied those methods against Celtic and showed what was possible.”

Kettlewell hopes the last two matches, which saw a 2-0 Betfred Cup win over the Hoops followed by a 4-0 home loss to Rangers, can provide a valuable learning experience for his young players.

Highlighting the example of teenage left back Josh Reid, Kettlewell added: “There were plenty of learning points for us.”

Ross County defender Josh Reid.

“I used young Josh Reid as an example. A young 18-year-old and there are so many teachable moments against the best player in the country, his performance and stats will tell you that.

“If that is not an education for a young player then I don’t know what is.

“I have told Josh, if you haven’t come away learning something from Sunday then we have a problem, because you don’t get as much from games you win.

“We have set them their own tasks and we hope it will make Josh a better player and the team a better group and I am pretty certain it will do.”