Irvine is set for a baptism of fire
JACKSON IRVINE admits he was shocked by the white-hot atmosphere produced by an Old Firm youth clash – but the Ross County midfielder is bracing himself for an even noisier reception when he makes his Highland derby debut.
The Australian, who has joined the Staggies on a year-long loan from Celtic, is preparing for tomorrow’s clash with Inverness at the Caledonian Stadium.
So far, his only derby experience was during his days in the Hoops’ development ranks when they took on Rangers.
But the 21-year-old reckons the racket generated by the Caley Thistle faithful and their County foes will easily surpass what he has heard before.
He said: “I’ve played in a lot of Old Firm Under-19s games and reserve matches but this will be my first senior derby. It will be a totally different experience, but I’m looking forward to it.
“The Celtic-Rangers youth games can still be a bit heated. We played them in the Youth Cup final at Hampden in 2011 and there was 10,000 fans there. That was a pretty big experience for us in the team, especially considering how young we were.
“But the animosity between the fans at a senior derby, especially when there are points at stake, will be a whole different matter.”
County finally claimed their first Premiership win of the season with last Saturday’s 2-1 win over Dundee.
Now Irvine wants to see his side go on a run as they look to climb off the bottom of the table.
He said: “It’s important to get a run going and built a bit of momentum as well as a winning mentality in the dressing room, so the derby is the perfect game to add to what we did last week.”