Lucky charm de Vita determined to continue giving revived Country a lift
RAFFAELE DE VITA has a case for claiming to be Ross County’s key man, given that the side have yet to taste defeat with the Italian in their line-up.
A remarkable sequence of seven wins and a draw has lifted the Dingwall club from the depths of the Premiership to 10th and it is no coincidence, surely, that de Vita has featured in all of these matches.
Moreover, the winger scored the winner in a 3-2 victory over Motherwell on his debut in mid-February, a week after County had leaked four goals at Aberdeen without reply. He scored again when Jim McIntyre’s men recorded only their fourth league win of the campaign, away to Partick Thistle, before also netting the decisive goal in a 2-1 victory over Dundee United at Tannadice eight days ago.
It is hardly surprising, then, the 27-year-old Roman is the recipient of the SPFL Player of the Month award.
But de Vita, who served Blackburn, Livingston, Swindon, Bradford and Cheltenham before arriving in the Highlands during January’s transfer window, did not foresee that his reintroduction to
Scottish football would be quite so dramatic.
‘I am 100-per-cent surprised at how well it’s gone,’ he confessed. ‘Even being positive, I couldn’t have thought we could go on such a fantastic run.
‘But this award is a credit to everyone because no one really expected it, even though we’ve worked so hard to turn the situation round.
‘I feel happy to be part of the group, but it has not been easy because we have a massive squad and, when I signed, there was a lot of competition.
‘But I’ve played in pretty much every game and contributed with a few goals and assists.’
While he insists it was purely coincidental that County’s revival began when he made his debut, de Vita believes the Motherwell match was the catalyst of change.
‘That was the moment,’ he said. ‘The 11 players that day just clicked and we formed little partnerships on the pitch.
‘I formed one with Jamie Reckord behind me on the left and it was the same on the other side with Michael Gardyne and Marcus Fraser. Managing to keep the same XI for a good few weeks also helped.
‘We go into every game knowing exactly what we are going to do and the main thing is we are disciplined on the pitch.’