Survival in the top flight trumps cup, says Vigurs

ROSS COUNTY skipper Iain Vigurs is looking forward to the Scottish Cup derby with Inverness tonight but insists Premiership survival is the No1 priority. The Staggies take on their Championship neighbours in the third-round tie televised live from Dingwall. It is a break from league duty for John Hughes’ team who are 10th in the table, two points clear of bottom side Hamilton and one above Kilmarnock ahead of the five post-split fixtures. Yesterday, Vigurs recalled the disappointment of the recent 1-0 league defeat at St Johnstone as he assessed the cup tie. The 32-year-old midfielder (below) said: ‘It would be good to get a really good run for the end of the season but, first and foremost, we have to concentrate on league survival. League survival is first and foremost, for the status of this club. If anything, you want the relegation dogfight, as you put it, to start as quickly as possible because you want to get going and rectify all the wrongs we have done in the past. ‘First and foremost, a good performance is needed (against Inverness) after the way we performed against St Johnstone. ‘We need to get back to playing football because against St Johnstone we were so far off the pace it was hard to watch. It just wasn’t us. ‘So we need to get back to the basics of football. ‘Obviously, we want to win the game but first and foremost we need a good performance going into the split.’ Vigurs has had two spells at Inverness and is on his second spell at County but played down his part in the Highland derby story. He said: ‘It is another game of football and all the players will be dying to win. ‘It doesn’t matter who you are playing against, you want to win that game. That is what being a footballer is about, that pride of not getting beaten and it is heightened a bit when it is in the derby. ‘It is going to be a good occasion, everyone is looking forward to it.’ County will be without suspended defender Carl Tremarco, while defenders Callum Morris (hamstring), Tom Grivosti (hamstring) and Connor Randall (back) are out for the rest of the campaign.