Livi take points but Mackay’s Staggies are up for the fight
Malky Mackay insists Ross County have got enough fight to survive in the Premiership – despite slipping into the bottom two with defeat at Livingston.
The Staggies failed to recover from going in at the break 2-0 down, Joel Nouble and Nicky Devlin both scoring for the hosts in the opening period, although sub Simon Murray pulled one back for the visitors.
County are now only two points clear of basement side Dundee United and one behind Kilmarnock in 10th. A visit from Celtic awaits them after the international break but Mackay is confident his side can move clear of trouble.
He said: “Results come with performances, and we’ve got to make sure we keep working hard and being in games.
“We were in the game all day, but we’ve just got to take our chances when we get them.
“The good thing about this group is that it doesn’t look like a team that are done for in this division. They are at it every week, and they’re fighting right until the end. There would have been a sigh of relief at the end from Davie Martindale, so we need to make sure we take that into the games that are against teams around about us.”
Livingston started well without doing much with the ball in the final third. And after soaking up early pressure, the Staggies created a great chance to open the scoring just after the half-hour mark.
Gwion Edwards’ corner was flicked on by Jordan White but Keith Watson could only direct his effort into the side netting.
The visitors were looking the stronger of the two teams by this stage but they were hit with a sucker punch when Nouble broke the deadlock in the 37th minute.
James Penrice crossed from the right and Nouble headed back across Ross Laidlaw into the net.
The Livingston fans were still celebrating that goal when Devlin added a second two minutes later.
Penrice had a stinging drive repelled by Laidlaw and in the same sequence of play, Devlin arrowed a shot into the corner of the net after finding himself in space just outside the area.
An overlapping run from Devlin at the start of the second nearly produced a third goal for Livingston. Jason Holt slipped in his skipper but Devlin’s shot from a tight angle came back off Laidlaw’s chest.
County boss Mackay turned to his bench for inspiration and found it in Murray and Ross Callachan.
The pair were involved as the visitors pulled one back in the 69th minute. Callachan found Eamonn Brophy and the forward’s low cross was bundled in by Murray from close range.
The goal stood after a VAR review overruled the linesman’s decision to raise his flag for offside.
An exciting finish saw chances being created at both ends. Devlin had another effort saved following a forceful run before Penrice blocked what appeared to be a goal-bound Brophy shot.
Mackay insisted his players shot themselves in the foot in West Lothian. He said: “For the first goal we allowed a mismatch to happen at the back post, as we’ve got three defenders in there.
“Nicky Devlin’s strike then puts us behind the eight ball at half-time. What I was looking for was for the guys to come on and show a real something about wanting to be on the pitch and making a difference.
“Real credit to Livingston as it’s always going to be a tough day – but we were masters of our own downfall at times.
“The significance of the first goal is a big thing.”