Murdoch has top-flight goal with Ross County
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STEWART Murdoch aims to use his English education to good effect now he’s back home in Scotland with Ross County.
The 25-year-old midfielder left Falkirk two years ago to join Fleetwood Town and helped them make the step up into League One.
Limited game time resulted in a two-month loan stint at Northampton Town, and 2015 saw him mainly kicking his heels rather than football.
A call from County manager Jim McIntyre, who was aware of what Murdoch could offer the team, came at the right time. The Aberdonian now looks finally to prove his worth in the Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership having just made a few top-flight appearances at Falkirk before they dropped down to the then Division One.
Murdoch, whose Bairns’ debut was a sub appearance in a 3-3 draw with Celtic, explained: "Between January and the end of the season I didn’t play a lot of football. Some clubs perhaps wanted to see a wee bit more from me, so when the manager got in touch at the start of June it was a really quick decision for me to make.
"I went on loan before the turn of the year and played a fair amount of football. I was hoping to extend that (at Fleetwood) and it just didn’t work out, so it was a really frustrating period. Now that just makes me more hungry to play as much football as I can.
"This is a great stage for me. A lot of these games are on TV – it’s the top league up in Scotland and you have to go and compete. It will be interesting after the first few games to see where I stand, but so far in training I have felt comfortable.
"I played five or six games at English League One level last season with Fleetwood, which is also challenging, so it’s exciting for me to see how I can compete."
So, what can County fans from Murdoch this season? He said: "I’m all about dig. I get after the ball and play with a high intensity and energy.
"When I do get the ball I look to give it to those lads who can create, such as Michael Gardyne and Raffaele De Vita, who can deliver balls into the box. I will try to get into the box too, although I haven’t scored many goals. That’s one thing the manager is really encouraging me to do, to really go at teams and show aggression."
County are just back from a week-long trip to a quality base near Budapest in Hungary. A 1-1 draw against Soraksar SC was followed by a 2-0 defeat on Saturday by Second Division Hungarians Szolnoki, but there was more to going away than the result.
Murdoch said: "There are a lot of new lads at the club so the trip was all about getting to know one another. It’s always a great exercise to get away and bond with the lads.
"It was especially important to do that this season, having brought in so many new players. We needed to get to know one another before the season gets started and we’ve done that. It’s all down to business now."
And that business begins for real on Saturday with the trip to champions Celtic and Ronny Deila’s league winners fly the title flag,
Murdoch could think of no better way to kick off his competitive County career. He said: "I was on holiday when the fixtures came out and when I saw it, it was a dream game. As a team, we have to believe we can win it. There’s no point in going to Celtic Park to make up the numbers. We can hope they will get caught up on their flag celebrations and we might get the chance to sneak something."
