Ross County's wait for a Premiership point goes on – here are three takeaways from the Staggies' defeat to St Mirren in Paisley featuring reaction from manager Malky Mackay and forward Dominic Samuel
Ross County are still without a point in the Scottish Premiership after a 1–0 defeat away to St Mirren.
The result was a disappointing one for a number of reasons – not in the least because it was the first league game in 2022/23 where the Staggies were up against a side who finished lower in the table than them last season.
Where there were obvious positives to take away from the losses against Hearts and Celtic, County supporters could be forgiven for feeling more dejected after yesterday's display, and here are three of the main talking points from sports reporter Andrew Henderson, who was at the match.
Off it from the first whistle
After creating plenty of chances in the first half at Tynecastle and dutifully defending against Celtic last week, County took a while to settle into the game in Paisley.
There was a disconnect between how the Staggies tried to play out from the back and what their attacking players wanted to do. On several occasions balls were played into channels behind defenders, only for those in the final third to have dropped deep as shorter passing options.
Whether it was because of the blistering heat or the travel down, something was off amongst County's squad. Things did improve as the first half wore on, albeit perhaps not to the level Malky Mackay would have hoped, but they will have to be careful not to let slow starts become a habit if they want to get that first Premiership win on the board any time soon.
Malky Mackay's thoughts: "In the first half I would suggest we weren't quite at our normal, and in the end a moment of quality in the game told with their goal.
"On another day if we have a bit more care and attention, I think we score the header that hit the post.
"In the second half we stepped it up and started to get more crosses into the box and threatening, but it was too slow of a start for us."
Try and try again
It is easy to see why Owura Edwards excites County fans so much even this early in his spell in Dingwall.
Until Kazeem Olaigbe was introduced as a substitute, Edwards looked by far the most likely to make something happen for the Staggies, and he even hit the post with a diving header in the second half.
However, such is him importance to County's attack at times things became predictable. Edwards' pace is electrifying, but there were a number of times he got the ball and looked to go past his marker by knocking the ball past and using that speed – and it didn't take long for St Mirren's defenders to cotton on and stop him.
This is by no means to do Edwards down. With the ball at his feet he can skip past challenges like they're not there, and his work rate going back towards his own goal was apparent against Celtic too, but if any players tries the same thing too often it is not going to work.
Bursting past opponents will be a useful tool in Edwards' arsenal, but as his understanding with teammates continues to improve I'd like to see them try to play him in behind defenders rather than getting one-on-one with them. After all, that's what brought so much success for Regan Charles-Cook last season.
Malky Mackay on County's attacking play: "What we've got to sometimes realise is that the perfect ball isn't going to sit up for you. Sometimes you have to take the shot and a deflection puts it in – we can gamble a little bit more.
"In the first half Callum Johnson put five or six great crosses in and we didn't gamble enough, so it's back to the drawing board in that sense.
"We'll look at it, it's a new group and some of them are in their first few weeks in the Scottish Premiership. There are young players there, so it's about learning that we have to take chances when we get them."
Square pegs in round holes?
For me, it was a surprise to see Dominic Samuel start behind the striker ahead of Yan Dhanda.
Of course Malky Mackay will have had his reasons. Samuel is clearly a player he trusts, and it may have been a call on physicality with Samuel perhaps more robust than Dhanda when it comes to battling against defences.
At the same time, Samuel is not so natural in the position. When he signed for County, Samuel was known as an out-and-out striker, and he has had to adapt to what Mackay wants from him in Dingwall both out wide and in a deeper role.
You can see he is still learning the position. On occasion he was too close to Jordy Hiwula, taking up the same space as the team's focal point and crowding the area, while other times he was the deepest of County's midfielders.
We are probably yet to see the best of Samuels in Dingwall, despite the occasional flash of quality. The 28-year-old may well still have an important part to play as a number 10, but on yesterday's showing more work will need to be done on the training ground first.
Dominic Samuel's thoughts: "I am getting to grips with it. Sometimes there are games where you would like to be on the ball more, but it gives you that free license to make those runs in behind and try and get on the ball to make things happen.
"There's never really a set position in our team anyway, where you end up is where you end up. We like to play a man-for-man game, so wherever your man is we follow.
"It will pay off eventually, but hopefully it will come soon."
