Match Preview - Dundee (H)

By Peter Mackay

For the second match in a row, the Staggies are at home for a return to league action following the international break. Dundee are the visitors for matchday five of the William Hill Premiership, as they travel north for the 3:00 PM kick-off.

Ross County

The Staggies are coming off the back of some tough results, and despite losing the match right at the death against Aberdeen, there were a plethora of positive signs throughout the performance.

Considering the match followed on from a game where we conceded six, for the large part of over 90 minutes, the County defence was incredibly solid, and visiting Aberdeen were limited to a meagre number of opportunities.

Result aside, that kind of team performance and togetherness has placed us back on the right track, and hopefully it can be the platform to kick on and get back to our best against Dundee.

Last time out saw an impressive debut for on-loan defender Kacper Lopata who looked strong in the centre of defence.

Eli Campbell also made his debut in the match, alongside a home debut for Joshua Nisbet.

Player to Watch

Since signing from EFL League Two champions Stockport County, Akil Wright has seamlessly slipped into the backline in Dingwall.

The big defender has won 64.7% of duals this season, showing his dominance on both the ground and in the air.

The Englishman has played in both a back four and five since arriving but has shown his strengths in both shapes.

In his second league match against Dundee United, Wright was immense at the back and his athleticism and power made him the perfect foe in stopping a fluid tangerine attack.

Akil has been a real leader and showed those qualities once more versus Aberdeen in which he played a large part in plugging what was been a free-scoring Aberdeen attack this season.

Not only is Akil Wright strong defensively, but we have also seen his marked importance due to his ball-playing capabilities.

The former Wrexham man has had 202 touches of the ball, all whilst making 106 successful passes, giving him a pass success rate of over 80%.

Dundee

After what can be described as a remarkably successful return to the top flight of Scottish football last campaign, there have been no signs of a second-season syndrome from the Dark Blues so far.

They look like they might even go on to better their top-six finish from last season – that is their goal at least.

Tony Docherty has Dundee playing some really entertaining and free-flowing attacking football.

His side has scored nine goals this season, and currently remain unbeaten with three draws and a resounding win over Heart of Midlothian.

Dundee will be keen to maintain that vein of form when they travel north – however, it's not all conclusive.

The Dens Park side has also conceded on seven occasions in four matches, showing evidence that they can, at times, be vulnerable at the back.

Player to Watch

An obvious choice from a Staggie standpoint, we know all too well just how much of a danger Simon Murray can be.

The former County hitman was a key player over the past two years in Dingwall, and netted over 20 goals for the club last season.

Simon has not quite been on that goal trail yet back in his home city, but his overall work rate and presence continue to make him a real handful.

Murray scored his only league goal of the season so far against his former club Hibernian.

Due to the departure of Luke McCowan to Celtic, manager Docherty has handed the armband to Simon Murray – again showing his importance to any team in which he plys his trade.

From the Dugout with Don Cowie

Dundee have made a real statement since returning to the league, and with their sights being set on a second top-six finish in a row – the gaffer knows all too well that his group are in for a challenge on Saturday afternoon.

Don Cowie said: “We're looking forward to it.

“We had a good week training last week, then the group had a couple of days off over the weekend which is important, and now full focus this week is on a really challenging game against Dundee.”

The Dark Blues are yet to lose a match this season and have found quite the scoring knack – so as far as Don is concerned, there are no qualms about what needs to be done to get some points.

“They are a really good team; they had an excellent season last year and have followed that on with a strong start.

“Tony (Docherty) has done a fantastic job since he’s gone in there – they are really confident and have recruited really well.

“They have signed really good players, and someone in Simon Murray that we all know really well, so they do have a real threat.

“At the same time, they can be really good defensively, so it is going to be a real challenge but one that we are looking forward to.”

Despite losing the match late on, Don was pleased with the reaction he got from his players against Aberdeen and hopes that they can build that into Saturday’s clash.

He said: “I’ve made no secret we were really disappointed with the result and performance against Rangers and we worked really hard during the week leading up to Aberdeen to make sure that we got back to playing as a team collectively.

“I saw lots of positives in that game – you hope you're going to score the penalty but at the same time, that’s two home games where we have missed penalties at 0-0.

“Goals are important and can change games, so we need to be more ruthless and more clinical when these opportunities come around.”

International breaks are sometimes seen as a hindrance to form and consistency by managers, but it could be looked as a something positive.

Don added: “It was a chance to recharge the batteries.

“It allows the group to get away and spend time with their families, quality time – and then they can refocus.

“It is important then when we have games coming up that players are ready and prepared for it.”

Previous Encounters

We struggled slightly in fixtures against Dundee last campaign.

The opening match was a 0-0 stalemate, with the following encounter seeing Dundee score with the last kick of the ball to win 1-0.

The Dee then defeated us 2-0 at Dens Park early on in Don Cowie’s interim tenure.

The Staggies had a 100%-win record over Dundee in the 21/22 campaign with two away victories at Dens Park and a 3-2 home win.

Regan Charles-Cook and Dominic Samuel scored to secure the victory for the Staggies that day after a Danny Mullen own goal put them on the back foot.

In the fixtures away from home there were goals galore for Malky Mackay’s side. County scored seven goals in the two meetings, most notably that memorable 5-0 win which included an unforgettable Joe Hungbo free kick.

The Staggies have a strong record against Dundee overall, with 19 wins out of 48 total encounters.

Memorable Match

Familiar Faces

There have been numerous players to pull on both the Staggie blue and the Dark blue over the years, and with Jim McIntyre's managerial connections, there have been many in recent times.

This season, Simon Murray and Ricki Lamie swapped places to end up in Dundee and Dingwall respectively.

Former County skipper Andrew Davies signed for the Dee under cup-winning manager McIntyre, whilst Martin Woods and Craig Curran also made the same move.

Sean Higgins and Colin McMenamin are some other fan favourites to have played for both clubs, as well as first-division-winning Scottish Cup hero Steven Craig.

Team News

Ricki Lamie remains out, whilst Will Nightingale becomes a doubt after pulling out of the Aberdeen match.

Max Sheaf has returned to training.

Tickets

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