Staggies boss slams stars’ slack attitude

Ross County co-manager Stuart Kettlewell blamed the weak mentality of his players and a blunder from assistant-referee Craig Ferguson for his side’s latest defeat.

Kettlewell watched in disbelief as his side surrendered a first-half lead and crumbled to such an extent that the 3-1 scoreline flattered them.

“The second half performance was disappointing,” he admitted. “We warned them about the pitfalls, about coming out and being slack.

“We could have done things better in the first half but, in terms of what has gone before, we were well organised and it was a half-decent first 45 minutes.

“But what happened after that flashes asignofasoftcentreandasignofus going under a wee bit. We concede a goal and it should make us come out fighting but we felt we accepted our fate a little bit at 2-1.”

Kettlewell accepts County must raise their game considerably when Gary Holt’s men visit Dingwall in midweek.

“It’s about finding that level of consistency and we’re going to need a reaction to this when we play Livingston on Wednesday because it’s always a test of your character against them,”hesaid.

“We tried to make the players aware of certain scenarios today – Eamonn Brophy cutting inside to get on his right foot for the first goal because that’s what he does. They need to be switched on when that happens.

“At their second goal, Chris Burke was clearly offside.

“He’s only two yards away from the linesman and we need the officials to get these things right but we were the architects of our own downfall when it comes to what happened in that second half.”