Stand-in skipper Jordan White admits Ross County must improve when they tackle Celtic and Rangers in Glasgow.
The Staggies had no answer to Brendan Rodgers’ unbeaten Premiership leaders as they lost 5-0 at Parkhead on Saturday, with all the goals coming inside the opening 40 minutes.
The hosts made six changes to their line-up from their 1-1 Champions League draw with Club Brugge, but it was a display of class nonetheless.
Former Dundee midfielder Luke McCowan was a stand-out and scored the second goal after defender Liam Scales headed Celtic in front.
Goals from Paulo Bernardo, Callum McGregor and Adam Idah completed the five-star show against eighth-placed County.
With County keeper Ross Laidlaw suffering a knee injury, he was replaced just before half-time by Jack Hamilton, who pulled off two stops in the second half to ensure no further damage.
In August, County lost 6-0 against Rangers in the league at Hampden and this could have been far worse had Celtic maintained their levels throughout the day.
Yet in Dingwall this year, they only lost 2-1 to Celtic in October and beat Rangers 3-2 back in April. The heavy losses have come on their trips to Glasgow.
Chance to respond against Rangers
White, who was captain in place of the suspended Connor Randall, admits it was another harsh lesson, but he already has an eye on hosting Rangers this Sunday.
He said: “We don’t want to come to places like Celtic Park and just accept we’re going to get beat.
“It’s not the way we want to go about it, but it can happen, and it is something we will move on from.
“We’ve been really good at home. Sunday is a chance for us to show we can do something.”
‘Bit of pride’ by not conceding further
Forward White, who has six goals this term, says there was some comfort to be taken from not leaking more goals in the second half.
He said: “Celtic maybe took their foot of the gas a wee bit, but it was about getting a wee bit of pride that we kept the clean sheet in the second half.
“The first half was disappointing. Celtic were good and took their goals really well.
“The first one, from a set-piece, is the one where we’re disappointed because we feel we maybe should get the better of them. We didn’t recover from that.”
‘They can put you away quickly’
White felt County needed to show a bit more quality amid that tough opening 45 minutes, but stressed how tough it is when top-level teams click into gear.
He added: “When the scoreline does go to one or two then that’s what the big teams can do to you.
“They can put you away quickly. We just didn’t recover. We needed to be braver on the ball at times in the first half. I think we showed that a bit more in the second half.
“But you still have to go out there and do it. We did that in the second half.
“If there’s a positive we can take from this game, that is probably it.
“We were well beaten, and we need to move on from it.”
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