Michee Efete netted his first Ross County goal – but was frustrated to have the point snatched away by 10-man St Mirren on Saturday.
The midfielder coolly slotted home an equaliser inside the opening minute of the second half, wiping out an opener from ex-Staggies defender Alex Iacovitti.
A red card for Saints’ Scott Tanser for a second booking should have given County hope they could go on and win the encounter.
However, Oisin Smyth lashed home a winning free-kick for the Buddies on a dismal, wind-lashed day in Dingwall.
County have lost four games on the spin, scoring just four goals in their last eight matches as they plunge closer to the foot of the division.
It’s a big week now for Don Cowie’s team, who round off the year at Dundee on Boxing Day before hosting Hearts on Sunday.
‘We have to find a way back’ – Efete
Former Grimsby Town player Efete, who signed a two-year extension in the summer after joining in January, didn’t have many reasons to smile – even after scoring his first goal for the Highlanders.
He said: “I am happy to get the goal, but we lost and that’s disappointing. We know we’ve got a good squad, and we started the season well. But now we are going through a little spell where it’s not too great.
“But, during the course of a season, you are not always going to have ups, you are going to have downs as well.
“It’s a new squad in the gaffer’s first proper season and we have to find a way back to how we started.
“We have to look at what we got wrong and ultimately learn from it and go on to the next game.
“There are a lot of games coming up, so it’s quick and we have to take our minds away from this and try and get the win and climb back up the table.”
St Mirren were driving on for win
Efete’s goal, along with Tanser’s dismissal, might have given the hosts a lift, but St Mirren seemed to have the edge when it came to the best chances after that.
Efete said: “I feel like they got a bit of a hold in the game, and we started to sit off a bit and they were finding the extra man on the sides when we were narrow and kept on driving at us and we didn’t deal with it properly.
“They were catching us on the counter and that’s how they managed to get the free-kick that led to their second goal. We just didn’t deal with their attacking threats properly.
“They were quick in behind and we have got to stay on our feet and hold them up and we didn’t do that.”
Composure needed in both boxes
Thursday’s hosts Dundee, who lost 1-0 against Rangers at Ibrox on Saturday, are seventh in the table.
Yet, despite County’s winless run, a first away league victory since September 2023 would move them to within one point of the Taysiders.
Efete added: “We know one win can take us back up there, so that’s what we need to do.
“We need to go back to where we were before, have some composure and not give away silly free-kicks. We need to be more composed in both boxes.”
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