Ross County manager Don Cowie admits Staggies did not do enough to capture fans’ imagination in defeat to Hearts in Edinburgh
Don Cowie admits Ross County did not give their fans enough to cheer about as the Staggies were beaten 2-0 by Hearts at Tynecastle.
County took close to 500 supporters down to the capital to cheer on the side, albeit goals from Elton Kabungu and Jorge Grant meant they returned up the A9 disappointed.
That was the overwhelming emotion among Cowie’s squad too, as they tested Craig Gordon just once in the 90 minutes – with County’s top six hopes being dealt a major blow in the process.
“As always, I saw our team giving everything for the football club and working extremely hard, but we were lacking a bit of quality today,” Cowie told Ross County’s media team.
“We’ve been really good at that recently, but we didn’t pose enough problems to Hearts to create a bit of momentum.
“We made a lot of changes in the game, because we had a lot of attacking options on the bench to try and get that equaliser, but unfortunately we came up short.
“That was probably the story of the game – collectively, we just didn’t quite pick the right pass or have the correct touch. We had enough corners, and didn’t test them enough, so that’s disappointing.
“The fans’ support is hugely appreciated. I would love to have sent them home happier, but it’s really pleasing when you come out and see so many fans.
“Even when we were 1-0 down they were still right behind us and encouraging us, so it’s frustrating that we didn’t give them more to cheer about by rewarding them with a goal, but we’re very grateful for their support.”
The Staggies now have a week off for the international break, before returning to action in Dingwall against Dundee United on Sunday, March 30.
For Cowie, it will be a case of regrouping – and he has encouraged fans to do the same ahead of their final push before the Premiership splits with some big travelling supports anticipated to be coming to the Highlands.
“The conversation after the game was that we’re disappointed to come away with nothing from Hearts, but now we’ve got three games to go before the split,” Cowie reasoned.
“The next two are at home, and they will be difficult games but we have a real belief that we can get a good points haul from those games.
“We’ll need our fans to turn up, because I’m sure Dundee United and Aberdeen will travel in numbers to Dingwall, so we will need our fans and we’re looking forward to it.”