Ross County trio’s international call-ups are compliment to work being done in Dingwall
Don Cowie believes Ross County’s international call-ups is evidence of the strong work being done in Dingwall.
The Staggies had three players called up to camps with their national teams – Nohan Kenneh with Liberia, Ronan Hale with Northern Ireland, and Dylan Smith with Scotland’s under-21s.
Although all three had varying levels of involvements with their country’s matches, the fact that the Staggies had multiple players in the mix for such squads is encouraging.
As far as integrating them back into the fold in Dingwall goes, it helps that County do not play until Sunday afternoon, meaning their working week has essentially been pushed back a day anyway.
“It's a great reflection of where we are,” Cowie reasoned.
“This week we've had three away playing for their countries, which is a great achievement and learning curve for them.
“Nohan's gone away and played all 90 minutes in his second game for Liberia, which is great for him.
“Ronan obviously goes away, doesn't manage to get on the pitch, but I'm sure he'll take plenty of lessons from that.
“We spoke about how keen he was to be part of the Northern Ireland squad and the patience that he's had to show. He’s just going to have to show even more patience now in terms of getting on the pitch and getting that first cap. That's what he's got to strive for.
“Hopefully, he was watching Alexander Isak last night and getting a few tips of him and bringing it back to us.
"Just with the way the working week is for us this week with it being the Sunday game, everything has been nudged along. The players will be off tomorrow rather than the typical Wednesday, which means the international players will come back with the group on Friday to train.”
While Hale and Kenneh are both looking to make as much of an impact on their senior national squads as possible, it is a slightly different situation for Dylan Smith.
For him, it was a first call-up to a new age bracket in the national set-up after having captained the under-19s, which is a sign of his progression.
“We're all extremely proud of him in terms of achieving that,” Cowie said.
“He played again yesterday and got some minutes as well, so it’s a great experience for him playing at that level. It's now just the next step in the progression that he's doing.
“We spoke previously about him coming back after a really good loan spell at Arbroath, and it was important that he stayed, that he was involved in the first team, and that's exactly what he's been.
“He's not managed to get into the starting team yet, and that's probably a reflection of how well the others have done in the defensive unit, but he's certainly fighting for that spot and long may it continue, because there's still more steps for him to make.”
With the likes of Kenneh having travelled halfway around the world over the last two weeks, Cowie will have a decision to make around whether he throws the international trio straight back into action against Dundee United this weekend.
“That's when you piece together your group of staff because people have got far more knowledge than I do about what's the best course of action to take for each individual,” he added.
“We always have an open discussion on what we think is best for each individual. Nohan especially has got a long flight, a lot of travelling for him. Dylan was in Spain, so it's not too far, it just knocks him out of routine.
“I can only go from my own experience when you go away with an international team. It may be the intensity is not quite there when you're training because a manager only has them for a short period of time, so it might be more tactical and looking ahead to the game.
“The group of players that we've had has had time off anyway, so it's not like they've missed much in terms of as training, but it's just getting them back into that routine.
“Having the Sunday game is helpful in terms of just giving us that extra 24 hours for them to get back to the Highlands and then get ready to train again.”