ross county 5 McKay (9, 42, 48), Keillor-Dunn (57), Graham (pen, 90) morton 0

Billy Mckay is back with a bang – and Ross County are beginning to look unstoppable.

The Staggies striker smashed his second hat-trick of the season against Morton as County made it nine games unbeaten including five wins in a row.

Ominously for Championship defences, after several injury-hampered campaigns, Mckay’s season is shaping up to be his best since the Terry Butcher era at Caley Thistle.

Morton were no match for the leaders’ relentlessly fluent movement and possession, with lethal finishing to boot.

Co-manager Stuart Kettlewell praised the team’s performance but admitted Mckay’s predatory talents were immense.

Kettlewell said: “Billy looks as if he’s brimming with confidence.

“If anyone asks if Billy can find the back of the net, we all know the answer.

“It is just finding a way of playing to help him and, from his perspective, finding that bit of confidence.

“We hope we’ve given him that freedom to go and do what he does.

“He has such experience at all kinds of levels and myself and Steven Ferguson had no doubts he could score goals here.

“That’s proven right over the last number of weeks and we hope he kicks on from this as well.”

Morton, the last team to beat Ross County back in late August, were unchanged from their slender home win over Falkirk.

Dejected Morton boss Jonatan Johansson admitted: “We knew they were a difficult team, high on confidence.

“The most disappointing thing today is we didn’t play well.

“Coming to a place like this, if you don’t play well you can’t expect to get much.”