Ross County goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw revealed a change of penalty taker kept him on his toes before he pulled off a vital save to help earn a point at St Mirren on Saturday.
The 32-year-old was a stand-out performer, saving Greg Kiltie’s first-half spot-kick in the first half then displayed superb reactions to deny sub Jonah Ayunga later in the game.
The scoreless draw completed an unbeaten week for Don Cowie’s Staggies after a 2-1 home win over Kilmarnock and a 0-0 draw against Hibs.
The result means St Mirren and County are locked on 12 points from 12 fixtures, with the Staggies sitting just outside the top six ahead of this Saturday’s trip to Dundee United.
The penalty for the Paisley side came after a nervy VAR check confirmed a shirt pull in the box by Eli Campbell on ex-County skipper Marcus Fraser.
Laidlaw was expecting another Buddies player to be facing him from 12 yards.
He said: “I actually thought Mark O’Hara was going to hit it, but he missed his last one, so it changed last minute to Greg Kiltie after we’d already worked on O’Hara.
“I thought he was going to the bottom-right, but he went straight down the middle. I managed to dangle a leg out to keep it out of the net.”
County have not won in Paisley since April 2015 when Liam Boyce’s hat-trick sealed a sparkling 3-0 win, but this result maintains steady progress this year under Cowie.
Defensive trio praised by Laidlaw
This summer, the Staggies brought in Akil Wright from Stockport County as well as impressive loanees Kacper Lopata from Barnsley and Campbell from Everton.
Laidlaw, who saved two penalties in the pulsating 2023 Premiership play-off final shoot-out triumph over Partick Thistle, was quick to point towards the three men in front of him for helping secure the point in Paisley.
He said: “We also had a couple of late chances in the game on Saturday, but first and foremost we were solid, and we’re not conceded too many chances or goals now.
“This season, we signed a few new defenders, who have been great since they’ve come in.
“We look a lot more solid and hopefully that can continue.
“As a squad, we defended really well and put a lot of pressure on them. It was not easy for them to get crosses into the our box.
“When the balls did come into the box, the three centre halves were magnificent.
“Last year, defensively, we didn’t get enough clean sheets.
“That was one thing we’ve struggled with. Even this season, we’ve conceded really late goals against Hearts and Aberdeen.
“It was pleasing to see the game out without any dramas. We take the point and move on.”
Point well earned
Laidlaw feels a return of five points, built upon strong team defending, made for a satisfactory last three matches.
He added: “It was a good week and positive to get two clean sheets.
“We’ve picked up five points from three games.
“It was a good win last week against Killie and Hibs are a good team, who are in a false position (at the bottom of the table) right now.
“And St Mirren is never easy. We’ve always struggled down there.
“You know what you’re getting against St Mirren, but the boys in front of me were brilliant. I saved the penalty, but they all put in great shifts.
“I wasn’t overly busy, and they defended the box really well, so we were delighted to get a point.”
Ross County set for trip to Tannadice
Laidlaw hopes County can stand up to Dundee United at Tannadice this weekend, while adding a finishing touch as they seek to earn their first away league victory since last September at Killie.
He said: “There is not much difference in quality between a lot of teams.
“You can see how tight the table is this season.
“We drew 1-1 with Dundee United in August, so hopefully we can put in another solid performance, but try to add a wee bit more quality in the final third to come away with a positive result.”
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