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Malky Mackay heartened by ownership and honesty of Ross County players in wake of crushing Motherwell defeat

Ross County manager Malky Mackay.
Ross County manager Malky Mackay.

Malky Mackay has drawn reassurance from the reaction of Ross County’s players to Tuesday’s chastening defeat to Motherwell.

The Staggies suffered a humiliating 5-0 home loss against the Steelmen, in the heaviest defeat of Mackay’s Dingwall tenure.

It prompted Mackay to apologise to County’s supporters after the match.

The result leaves County 11th in the table, with only one win from their opening nine matches.

Mackay says players have shown ownership and honesty in the wake of the defeat, which makes him confident of a response in Saturday’s trip to Livingston.

He said: “We had a really good conversation after bringing the boys in the following morning.

“We watched a little bit of video and then they went for a walk.

“There was a lot of honesty, which is good.

Callum Johnson looks dejected during Ross County’s 5-0 defeat to Motherwell.

“It worries with a group of players if you’re not hearing people taking ownership and, more so, when you’re not hearing people understand why things happened.

“Plenty of people put their hands up as we went through the goals, saying they should have done better there or this is what they should have done.

“That’s the way to learn.

“By the end of it, I was happy we could put the game to bed.

“The staff and I had a conversation as to where we could have been better as well.

“The good thing is I’m working with a group of people who are honest in what they do out on the field, but also honest as people.

“That’s why I look at them and think ‘they will do for me’ when we have this tough league campaign ahead of us.”

Lessons can be learned from debrief

Following the match, Mackay vowed to analyse the game in detail in an attempt to get to the root of the Staggies’ issues.

The County boss is certain his players will learn valuable lessons from the debrief.

He added: “It is not an easy thing to sit and watch what has happened, knowing it is you that’s maybe up next.

“At the same time, if it is the correct atmosphere and if it is framed properly, it is a learning environment.

“It is how I have done it since I first became a manager.

“When I see people within the room who do take responsibility, then they have to step across the white line and grasp that further. That’s when you see improvements.

“But they need support and that’s what they’re going to get from me.”

Staggies must meet fundamental challenges

Mackay says the heavy defeat to Well presents his side with an opportunity to get back to basics.

The Staggies boss is also keen to draw from encouraging signs the Staggies have shown in matches earlier in the Premiership campaign.

He added: “There are four or five little key messages that I have put to the players over a period of time.

Malky Mackay.

“Every week we go into two or three aspects of the opposition, two or three aspects of ourselves, but there are five fundamentals that never change and just sit there every week.

“If we do those, we will be okay.

“When you can’t tick a couple of those off on a Saturday, there is usually an issue. If you can’t tick any off, you have a big problem – and that’s what we encountered in the second half on Tuesday night.

“What we can’t do is throw the baby out with the bathwater here. The first half in the two games recently, against Hibs and Motherwell, were decent.

“Clearly we had issues in both games, but we stay calm because we’ve performed against them, Aberdeen, Kilmarnock and St Johnstone.”

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