Malky Mackay showed his Ross County players Liverpool’s 5-0 demolition of Manchester United – then the Staggies repeated the feat against Dundee.
The County manager was thrilled to finally secure his first Premiership win at the 11th time of asking on Wednesday when they stormed to a stunning 5-0 win at Dundee to haul themselves to within one point of the Taysiders.
This was the Dingwall club’s biggest-ever top-flight victory and it could not have come at a more telling time after 10 games without a win, including their heart-breaking last-gasp 3-2 weekend loss to Livingston.
Although the Dingwall team remain bottom of the pack, they go into Saturday’s home clash with off-form Hibernian full of confidence.
Their Dens Park rout felt like a result that had been coming. For all their poor results, creative County were only letting themselves down with costly individual errors. Not on Wednesday though.
They raced into a 4-0 interval lead as the home supporters let rip at manager James McPake and their well-beaten side.
Harry Clarke’s wonderful opener was added to by a cool finish by Ross Callachan as County flew out of the traps.
A stunning 30-yard free-kick from on-loan Watford ace Joseph Hungbo is already penciled in by many folk as goal of the season and Regan Charles-Cook pounced before the break to net number four.
County stood up to an improved Dundee display in the second half, but added a fifth in a five-star display when Charles-Cook rounded off another killer attack.
It was the stand-out Premiership performance of the evening, which oozed class and had the look of a team brimming with quality at the top rather than the bottom of the table. The relentless nature of the display was top drawer.
Lethal Liverpool set up Staggies’ rout
Boss Mackay revealed that Liverpool, led by Scotland skipper Andy Robertson, showed the way to go when you can get in front in big games with Sunday’s eye-opening five-star rout of rivals United at Old Trafford.
Watching Jurgen Klopp’s stars in full flow was part of the homework for County ahead of their Tayside test against a team who would have moved seven points clear had they won.
His own players delivered to sending out a warning they belong in the Scottish Premiership.
Mackay said: “We were watching the Liverpool-Man U game. If you watch it back, you’ll see the fifth goal goes in and Liverpool’s players get together in the corner.
“Andy Robertson, of all people, runs in and shouts ‘don’t let up – ruthless, ruthless!’
“It is 5-0 and he is not bouncing about, he’s on them all, every one of them, to be relentless.
“I showed that to the boys the day before the Dundee game because, by rights against Livingston, had we been ruthless we would have been out of sight in the first half.”
No opening allowed for Dundee
On the first day of this Scottish Championship season, Raith Rovers blew a four-goal lead within 35 second half minutes and were held 4-4 by Hamilton.
Even coasting at Dundee, County were not in the mood to give their hosts any glimmer of hope.
Mackay added: “At Dens Park, 4-0 up at half-time, we touched again on it (the need to be relentless).
“Funny things can happen in that scenario. The other team regroups, the manager says a few words to them and he might change a couple of things.
“Suddenly, a couple of your guys start to relax and they get a goal back from nowhere. Next minute, it is a Battle Royal again.
“So, for us to actually come out in the second half, stay on the front foot, absorb a little bit of pressure and then cut Dundee open again – and be ruthless to the very last minute – was probably my biggest take away from it.”
Pride at blocking out Dundee dangers
As thrilled as Mackay was to see his men tuck away five chances, he was just as upbeat about shutting out their first opponents since the 0-0 draw with St Johnstone on the opening day of the season on July 31.
He added: “The players made sure that 5-1 didn’t happen on Wednesday night. The boys were throwing themselves in front of things to make sure Dundee didn’t score a goal.
“That mentality – that we deserve to be here in the Premiership – was the most pleasing part.
“We have a cause and there are plenty of teams in this league that we can go toe-to-toe with, and be as good as, if not better.”
Jake Vokins on the comeback trail
Southampton loanee Jake Vokins, meanwhile, is on the way back from the foot injury, which has sidelined him since the start of the league season.
Mackay said: “He’s back training and it will take a couple of weeks before he can rejoin the squad. Hopefully, he’ll be ready to go by the middle of next month.”