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.

Malky Mackay senses pattern forming to Ross County’s play in search to get back to winning ways

Ross County manager Malky Mackay. Image: SNS
Ross County manager Malky Mackay. Image: SNS

Malky Mackay is starting to see the right patterns in his Ross County team – even if they are not producing the results to show for it.

The Staggies have suffered back-to-back defeats against Kilmarnock and Hearts which have kept them bottom of the Premiership – albeit on goals scored.

Although County have won just twice this season, Mackay – who made 10 summer signings – believes his side have taken strides in the right direction in the last fortnight.

Mackay said: “I’m seeing my team starting to look as if there’s a pattern to them.

“People are starting to get the role they are playing, in a reasonably settled team, which makes a difference.

“It was a bit like this at a point last year, with everybody getting to know each other and how to play in this division. To understand this division is not easy.

Owura Edwards in action against Kilmarnock.

“Last week at Kilmarnock, and this week, is probably the most we have seen us comfortable on the ball. We actually have the confidence to keep it at times and probe to create chances, rather than it just being off the cuff.”

County took the lead against Hearts through Jordan White’s early goal, however strikes from Lawrence Shankland and Andy Halliday turned the game on its head before half-time.

Although a second half leveller proved to be beyond the Staggies, Mackay saw traits from his side which give him encouragement for the weeks ahead.

He added: “I know we lost, but there were some real green shoots in the team that looked like players who grabbed it and really went for Hearts in the second half.

“It makes a difference, because we are going to need that at some tough places. We are where we are at the moment, and we’ve got to climb out of that. We need to make sure we have people with real character.”

Mackay thrilled to see White back on scoresheet

Goals have been in short supply for the Dingwall men this season, with their tally of seven the lowest across the top flight.

Mackay took a boost from forward Jordan White finding the net for the first time since the opening day of the season in the loss to the Jambos.

The Staggies boss hopes the former Caley Thistle attacker will take confidence from ending his goal drought.

Jordan White celebrates putting Ross County ahead against Hearts.

He added: “I was absolutely delighted Jordan put that one in at the weekend.

“It was a smashing goal, and on another day he could have had another couple.

“I was delighted for him because he puts a lot of work in. He’s a really good top pro, who trains every day, works hard and keeps his body well.

“He’s everything you want in a professional footballer.

“He knows that in that 18-yard box, he’s got to keep looking to stay in there to try and get goals.

“That’s the primary job of the centre forward. But he’s a good front to our team, as he was all last year.

“On Sunday again, I thought he was excellent against a good Hearts defence.”

Conversation