Ross County keep League Cup destiny in own hands with win over Dunfermline Athletic
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Malky Mackay was delighted to keep Ross County’s Premier Sports Cup fate in their own hands with a narrow win over Dunfermline last weekend.
Jordy Hiwula’s second half header was all that separated the two teams at the final whistle, putting the Staggies one point behind the group leaders in the race to make it through with a game in hand.
Tonight, County will take on another team in the mix to qualify for the knockout rounds – Alloa Athletic – but Mackay and his players know that positive results in their remaining matches will be enough.
“We got a clean sheet, and it’s important for this cup that we do that at home,” Mackay said.
“Overall, I’m delighted, because Dunfermline are coming off the back of two good results, and they came here to win. Seeing that they got a good win last week, that’s why the two points at Buckie was important.
“With them coming here last Saturday, we knew if we won it puts it back in our hands.
“Alloa got a good win on Saturday, so we’ve got to make sure that we go down there and do well on Tuesday night.”
There were spells when it felt like a pre-season match, understandable when it was only County’s third game since the summer break, but make no mistake – Mackay is aiming for success in the cup.
“It’s a balance because it’s not friendlies, it’s the League Cup,” he stressed.
“We were unfortunately unable to qualify last year because of the situation with Covid, so it feels like you’re into pre-season games but you’re not.
“You’re in competitive fixtures, and you’re trying to win the group to make sure you get to the last 16 of the League Cup in Scotland.
“That’s a huge thing. We want to go and try to get to a semi final at Hampden in front of 50,000 people – that’s something we should always be aiming for.
“We want to go and win the group, and we’ve got Alloa on Tuesday night and then East Fife on Saturday and we’ve got to go and try to win those games.
“I’m delighted we got three points against a Dunfermline team who are chasing the win in this group as well. Now, we move on.”
