Murray aims to join elite Staggies group

Simon Murray stands just a goal away from joining a six-strong club of Ross County players to hit the 20-goal mark since they entered the Scottish leagues.

Forward Murray has enjoyed an excellent campaign, netting his 19th goal of the campaign in last weekend’s 2-1 victory over Hibernian.

Of those strikes 12 have come in the Premiership, with the 32-year-old former Arbroath, Dundee United and Dundee attacker having previously netted seven times in the League Cup.

Murray now has three matches – at home to Motherwell, away to St Johnstone and at home to Aberdeen – in which he could become the first Staggies player since Billy Mckay in 2019 to rack up 20 goals in a single season.

The feat has been achieved on eight occasions since County joined the Scottish Football League in 1994, with Derek Adams and Liam Boyce having accomplished it twice.

Boyce, who followed up a 20-goal haul in 2015-16 with a haul of 24 the following season, is the only County player to have hit that mark during a top-flight campaign.

Andy Barrowman holds the record for the most goals scored by a County player during the last 30 years, having finished with a tally of 29 strikes in their Second Division winning campaign in 2007-08.

Murray has endeared himself to the Staggies’ supporters, due to his relentless work-rate and eye for goal.

Staggies interim boss Don Cowie is thrilled with the way Murray has maintained his goalscoring rate throughout the campaign.

Cowie said: “Simon has had a lot of headlines because he is the one who has been scoring a lot of goals and he’s been extremely consistent throughout the season.

“He’s been a real pest to the opposition and it is about him maintaining that and doing it in the last three games.”

Simon Murray.