STAGGIES BOSS IN HIGH SPIRITS FOR DONS GAME

MALKY MACKAY has morphed into a sports psychologist of sorts in an effort to convince his players that they are better than their Premiership results might otherwise suggest.

Ross County take on Aberdeen at Pittodrie today on the back of a draw and two defeats in the Premiership. But Mackay is keen to persuade his players that they have much to feel pleased about in the wake of last week’s 4-2 home defeat by Rangers.

He said: ‘We had a debriefing session where I wanted to show evidence, the clips from Sunday and other games we’ve played.

‘With six minutes to go against Rangers, we were still in the game, and I showed them areas we did well in, where we exposed the opposition. I also explained why I was proud of them. At 2-0 down, that could become six or seven, as it has with many teams over the years.

‘But they got the goal before half-time and then, in the second half, they recovered from another knock and got it to 3-2 and had chances before Rangers scored their fourth.

‘The key thing was showing them evidence of how we played against the champions and that’s the belief I want them to have and use as a springboard into the rest of the games.’

Meanwhile, Aberdeen defender Declan Gallagher has backed young full-backs Calvin Ramsay and Jack Mackenzie to bounce back from the club’s European exit.

The Dons were knocked out of the Europa Conference League by slick Azerbaijani side Qarabag on Thursday night but Gallagher believes the experience gleaned by Ramsay, 18, and Mackenzie, 21, will prove invaluable.

He said: ‘It was a learning curve for the young boys to see the level that that they want to achieve and play at regularly but I hought they were excellent against Qarabag.’

Aberdeen have been further boosted by the arrivals this week of David Bates, Matty Longstaff, Marley Watkins and Austin Samuels.