Match Preview - Livingston (A)

By Jack Michael

We have returned to league action with defeat albeit a very positive performance away to the league leaders. All 6 of our new additions featured on Saturday with a performance that could well have seen us take a point from Celtic Park. Next up is a trip to face Livingston at the Tony Macaroni Arena in a massive fixture for both sides.

Livingston

The West Lothian side have struggled to find goals this season and that is evident when looking at the league table. They currently sit bottom of the table, 6 points behind ourselves, who sit 11th currently, albeit with two games in hand on a number of teams including Livi.

Livingston's last league win came back on the 7th October when they defeated Motherwell. Our previous meeting with them came back in September where we drew 1-1.

Player to Watch

Bruce Anderson has always been a tricky customer for the Staggies, netting 3 times this season including in Dingwall in our meeting earlier this season.

Ross County

Albeit not the result we hoped for, a much improved performance on Saturday against Celtic will give Staggies fans some much needed positivity going into this game.

Saturday saw debuts for Loick Ayina, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Teddy Jenks and Brandon Khela, all who impressed and look like players who can help us to turn our fortunes around in the second-half of the season.

Derek Adams will be looking for more of the same when we travel to West Lothian, although a clinical edge in taking our chances is needed to change our outcome with the result.

Scott Allardice, Jack Baldwin, Connor Randall, Ryan Leak, Ross Callachan and Dylan Smith all remain out for this one.

Player to Watch

Eli King has impressed since his arrival from Cardiff City on loan. His range of passing and awareness has impressed Staggies fans and he will be looking to build on his performances so far and help us to a big 3 points.

The Wales U21 international has played a vast amount of games for his age, spending the first-half of the season on loan at Morecambe.

‘From the Dugout with Derek Adams’ – By Roy Templeton

County's New Boys in Town - all six of whom started the closely fought 1-0 defeat by Celtic on Saturday - are already making their mark and gives hope for the crunch games ahead, says Staggies boss Derek Adams.

The County boss was quick to praise the efforts of all his team as they made league leaders Celtic battle all the way for their three points on Saturday - but said the increased competition for places that he so desires is a crucial part in that vastly improved performance.

And as County prepare to face Livingston, St Johnstone and Motherwell in the space of just eight days, he hopes the arrival of those fresh faces will kick start the team's season once more.

Pitching in the four new debutants Loick Ayina, Teddy Jenks, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson and Brandon Khela away to Celtic, along with starts for fellow loanees George Wickens and Eli King, was always going to be a bit of gamble.

But he's a firm believer in giving any new arrivals their chance to impress as quickly as possible.

"When you take in new players it's important to get them game time quickly and it was important for me that they started on Saturday - even although I could probably have wished for them not to start against the league leaders on their home patch," said Adams.

"I know all too well that it could have gone one of two ways - but I think they got a really good understanding of our game and they all enjoyed it."

Changing the squad mid season has its challenges but he's pleased at the added competition for places and thinks it is vital to have such competition between now and the end of the season.

"The players all showed great character and the way they played in and out of possession was excellent."

It was a strong performance all round, he added, starting up front with Simon Murray's work rate and continuing right throughout the team to keeper George Wickens, who saved two penalties to keep County in the game after going one down so early in the game.

Looking ahead to the next three crucial games, Adams says the character the squad showed against Celtic, and their belief that they could still take something from the game even in the final 10 minutes as they pressed for an equaliser, is cause for optimism.

"Against Livingston we've got to do much the same as we did against Celtic by creating openings - but then take the chances we create. We played on the front foot on Saturday and that's what we've got to try to do again against Livingston.

"What we took from Saturday is how well organised we were and the chances we created - and we'll certainly get more chances against other teams in this league which is all good going forward," he concluded.

Previous Encounters

Our clashes with Davie Martindale’s side always tend to be tight affairs with our last 5 matches being split with 2 wins apiece and a draw earlier this season.

Simon Murray has scored in two of his three Scottish Premiership appearances against Livingston, including one at the Tony Macaroni Arena in March last season.

Familiar Faces

Staggies manager Derek Adams played for both sides during his career, making 25 appearances for Livingston.

Former Staggies Sean Kelly, Richard Brittain and Josh Mullin have also played for both sides.

Current Staggie Jordan White also played for the lions earlier in his career.

Refereeing Team

Referee: Alan Muir

AR1: Jonathan Bell

AR2: Craig Ferguson

Fourth Official: Alastair Grieve

VAR: Grant Irvine

AVAR: Calum Spence

Team News

Scott Allardice, Jack Baldwin, Connor Randall, Ryan Leak, Ross Callachan and Dylan Smith all remain out for this one.

Ticket Information

Tickets can be purchased at the ground from 6:30PM until kick-off.