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Ben Purrington believes victory over Motherwell can spark Ross County upsurge

Ben Purrington.
Ben Purrington.

Ben Purrington believes a victory over Motherwell could be all that is required to kick start Ross County’s season.

The Staggies suffered a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Hibernian on Saturday, leaving them with only one win from their opening eight matches.

It has left 10th-placed County five points adrift of Motherwell, who are the next team above them, which further adds to the importance of tonight’s Victoria Park encounter.

Well are also struggling for form, having taken just a point from their last four games.

Defender Purrington says getting back to winning ways can transform the Dingwall side’s fortunes.

He said: “One win can change a lot. We haven’t scored enough goals, and we have probably conceded too many.

“Hopefully we can start changing that.

“We just need to have a bit more belief in ourselves and the way we play.

Ben Purrington closes down Jota.

“We have had some good performances and not got a result, but some poor performances as well.

“There are a few exceptions in between when we have picked up the odd point, and we got the win against Kilmarnock.

“We’ve got good players in the building, we see it every day in training.

“We just need to put it all together and try and put some good performances in on the pitch.”

Visit from Motherwell provides quick chance to put things right

Staggies boss Malky Mackay felt the second half of the defeat to Hibs was the poorest showing from his side so far this season.

Although County produced a promising first half display, they were undone by goals after the break by Ryan Porteous and Martin Boyle.

Purrington is keen to make the most of the quick opportunity to make amends.

He added: “The lads are just wanting to put right what went wrong on Saturday.

“In the first half, we were more than in the game. We had a good chance, but didn’t take it.

“If that happens, you can get punished. We came out after half-time and conceded very early, and that just put us on the backfoot.

“When they had a leg up it was tough to overcome that, and they got the second goal.

“We just didn’t perform as well as we know we can in the second half. It was poor.

“After the defeat to Hibs, it’s nice to have the chance three days later to get it out of our system and go again.

“We have prepared for the game with a short turnaround.”

Staggies must keep goals out

Despite County’s lack of victories, they have drawn plaudits for some of their defensive performances.

Purrington feels the backline have to take their share of responsibility, however, as the Staggies aim to get back on track.

Ben Purrington in action for Ross County against Hibernian.

The 26-year-old, who joined County from Charlton Athletic in the summer, said: “We are still losing games. We haven’t conceded too many goals, but some of the goals we have conceded, like the long throw at the weekend, are things we need to cut out.

“We need to be a bit more sharp and have better organisation, making sure everybody is in the right positions.

“I don’t think we have had many chances against us lately. Ross Laidlaw has not had to make a ridiculous amount of saves every game.

“Sometimes when you are in this position in the table, your goalkeeper is making five to 10 saves a game.

“I feel we are defending as a unit quite well, but we need to keep some clean sheets again.”

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