Connor Randall is determined not to let Saturday’s bruising loss against St Johnstone derail the progress Ross County have made in recent weeks.
The Staggies went down 3-0 at McDiarmid Park on Saturday, with Don Cowie’s side failing to recover from red cards shown to Eli Campbell and Charlie Telfer.
County had been in decent form prior to the recent international break, taking five points from three games against Dundee, Saints and Hearts, before narrowly losing to champions Celtic.
After suffering a setback in Perth, skipper Randall is determined to use back-to-back home games against Kilmarnock and Hibernian to get back on track over the next 10 days.
Randall said: “Next week, it’s about reacting. In football, that’s what you have to do.
“We are disappointed in the result and performance. We believed we would come down and perform, and get the result we wanted.
“In football you make your own luck. There are no excuses from us.
“I think we let ourselves down. It’s about getting back in next week and reacting – showing that hunger and desire to show what we are really about.
“We were not good enough. We have been trying to build something in the last few weeks, we feel we’ve been going in the right direction.
“To perform like that is very disappointing. But we will get back in on Monday, and we’ve got to show a reaction next week.
“At home, in the main, we have been very good. It’s on us to go out there and put a performance in.”
Afternoon to forget for Staggies in Perth
Saints struck early on through Benji Kimpioka, with County’s hopes of launching a response dealt a blow when Campbell was shown a second yellow card just after the half-hour mark.
Keeping a one-goal deficit would have allowed Cowie and his players to regroup at the interval, however, Kimpioka’s second in the final stages of the first half proved a body blow.
The second half was largely a non-event, but Telfer’s dismissal, followed by a stoppage-time third from Makenzie Kirk – which moved Saints above County on goal difference – made it an afternoon to forget for the Staggies.
While the red cards did not aid County’s cause, Randall felt the Staggies had been below-par even with 11 men on the field – and did not show the reaction required given the numerical disadvantage.
He added: “We weren’t at our level.
“We had a couple of sending-offs but even before that from the start, I think we could have been better.
“With the way we have performed in the last few weeks, we wanted to come down and push on, but we didn’t do that.
“We lost a man, but we were a goal down before that anyway. We wanted to try to get to half-time at 1-0 at least, but we conceded the second and then the third later on.
“There’s a big difference in it, one goal to two – especially with a man down as well.
“To concede it the way we did as well, was disappointing.
“We have been solid over the last few weeks, and really worked hard.
“We didn’t show that we way we have done. It was a very disappointing day for all of us.”
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