Ross County manager Don Cowie ready for different kind of clash against Livingston as Staggies look to go on long-awaited Scottish Cup run
Don Cowie is expecting a different kind of match between Ross County and Livingston this weekend in the Scottish Cup – and insists history shows that the Staggies can take nothing for granted.
The two teams will meet in Dingwall this weekend with a place in the fifth round of Scotland’s premier knockout competition at stake.
That in itself puts a unique spin on the fixture, which in recent years has more often than not been a relegation battle in the Scottish Premiership.
Last season, though, Livingston could not beat the drop, meaning they were relegated to the Championship.
There they have done well and are in the mix for promotion back to the top flight, most recently defeating Airdrieonians 2-1 on Tuesday evening.
County, too, have picked up in the form table over recent weeks, so rather than two teams desperate not to lose, Cowie suspects Saturday’s match will see two teams high in confidence going toe-to-toe.
“When you play David Martindale’s team, I think you know exactly what you are going to get – to be in the next round of the cup, you are going to have to earn it,” Cowie stressed.
“It is only a couple of weeks ago that I watched them live against Partick Thistle and I thought they were excellent that night.
“They won and David spoke afterwards about how much he was enjoying being on the other side of things, in terms of having a competitive budget in a league where he was able to develop the playing style a bit more.
“He was looking forward to showcasing that against ourselves, a Premiership team. He has the bit between his teeth and wants to come here and perform and do well. We need to be ready for that.
“They have gone from the challenges of competing in the Premiership to now playing in a league where they are winning a lot of games. Confidence is high.
“You’ve seen the belief that we’ve got now with the results we’ve had in the last few weeks, so it has the makings of a good, open game of football, and I’m really looking forward to that.”
By virtue of being a Premiership team, County will go into this weekend as favourites to progress, but they know better than most that it is not always as simple as that.
This time last year they lost to Partick Thistle at the same stage of the Scottish Cup, and earlier this season they were knocked out of the League Cup by League Two Spartans.
Being on the wrong end of upsets like those have contributed to just two quarter final berths in either competition since County lifted the League Cup in 2016.
“Last year we got a home draw, Partick Thistle this time last year, playing against a Championship team and we came unstuck,” Cowie recalled.
“We got beat very comfortably in the end in that match and we need to make sure there’s no repeat.
“I’d love for the club to get a cup run again, but let’s just focus on getting into the next round.
“We have to embrace being favourites – it’s a key part of the match. The mentality side of things is huge, and there are very few times we go into a league game being seen as favourites.
“We have to deal with the pressure of that. We showed we could do it when we played Raith Rovers in the play-offs and the League Cup, but we have let ourselves down at times as well like at Spartans, when everyone expected us to turn up and win.
“We have to deal with that, individually and collectively, to make sure that however we do it we win the game of football to get into the next round. That’s what we need to do this week.”