The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Randall’ s Staggies are fighting fit and ‘raring to go’ after virus blow
Connor Randall insists Ross County are getting back to full fitness after being floored – or at least house-bound – for 10 days this month.
The Staggies defender had Covid-19, with many of his team-mates getting it worse as the Scottish Premiership club went into lockdown in the football department.
Randall, who played in the 1-0 Premier Sports Cup win at Brora Rangers on Wednesday, says the squad have been back at work more than a week and are finally getting up to speed after struggling with the after-effects.
He said: “I didn’t have too many symptoms, but a few of the lads had a tough time for a week or so.
“We were getting into pre-season, just getting going and were feeling fit then we had that 10-day (isolation) period when we had to stay in the house.
“It wasn’t ideal fitnesswise and when we came back it took us a couple of days to get going, but we completed the game on Wednesday and all the lads have come through it unscathed and that’s the main thing.
“When you haven’t done anything for 10 days or so, you are going to feel it a bit, such as heavy breathing, but we were able to do a few sessions at home to get ourselves going.
“It wasn’t the longest time out and we had that base fitness from pre-season.
“So it maybe took a day or two to get back into it but all the lads are feeling fine and over it now.”
Forfeiting ties against Forfar and Dundee as a result of their Covid situation led to 3-0 defeats as per SPFL rules.
The victory at Brora got them three points on the board and they can finish this year in third spot if they beat visitors Montrose today. Randall said: “We’re looking forward to it.
“We’ll have had two games in quick succession, following on from midweek.
“That’s what we want. All the lads are raring to go and we want to put in another good performance and another victory.” Next weekend, double cup winners St Johnstone head
north for the start of the Premiership campaign and the 25-year-old said another strong performance against Montrose would be the ideal way to launch into their opener.
He added: “We are building for that first game of the season. We are trying to get that rhythm going.
“With games on Wednesday and Saturday, we will hopefully have two good performances and two victories which will give us the confidence going into that first game of the season.”