Foley surprised by standard as he eyes return to winning ways

ST MIRREN midfielder Sam Foley has expressed his surprise at the standard of Scottish football following his arrival in Paisley from Northampton this summer.

The 32-year-old has settled into Jim Goodwin’s side and has insisted that he is playing with a freedom since arriving at St Mirren.

“I’ve been impressed,” he said. “It’s perceived down in England that it’s a bit of a fight, but it’s been different. I spoke to people I knew well who had played here before, and they all had good words to say about it.

“I’ve been surprised at the standard of football that has been played. English football is a lot more physical, it’s a lot more direct and there’s less football.

“It’s a good thing for me at my age to come into a standard of football where the ball is on the floor, and I’m loving it.”

St Mirren will make the journey up to Dingwall this afternoon as they look to start putting points on the board. It has been a difficult start to the campaign for Goodwin’s side who lost to Livingston before the international break.

County meanwhile, will look to reassert their early-season form, having begun the campaign with four straight wins in the Betfred Cup and a 3-0 victory over Hamilton on the opening day of the league season.

However, County have not won in four matches and sit eighth in the table ahead of the visit of the Buddies.

Blair Spittal, who joined the Highland club from Partick Thistle in the summer, is looking for a “recharged” side to get back to winning ways.

“We got off to a good start, the win against Hamilton and the point away at Tynecastle,” said the 23-year-old midfielder, speaking at the launch of the SPFL Match Attax 2019/20 trading card game.

“You’d have looked at that and I think everyone would have bitten your hand off for that at the start.

“In the last two games the standards have sort of slipped but coming back from the international break, we’re recharged and ready to go again.

“It’s a massive game on Saturday and we need to show the sort of mentality we showed in the first two games of the season.

“Being hard to beat, first and foremost, but also carrying a threat.

“These sorts of games, you need to try and take something, especially at home.

“The past couple of games have not been good enough but we’ve got a chance to rectify that on Saturday.”