Highlands & Islands

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David Martindale has defended Derek Adams' rant about the standard of Scottish football, saying the Ross County boss is "educated enough" on the subject.

The former Morecombe manager slated the level of football being played in the Premiership after his side's 1-0 defeat to Dundee on Saturday, saying: "I've left a team down in League Two that's miles better than this team. Miles. That's saying something. We had the bottom budget in League Two, and they were 100 times better than this."

“Derek’s managed down south quite a bit, he’s now managing back up in Scotland so I think he’s entitled to his own opinion,” said Martindale. “It’s more of an educated opinion than what I can give you because I’ve not done what Derek’s done so he’s probably well within his rights to say it.

“He’s maybe articulated it wrong, I don’t know, I’ve not watched it back, but he’s educated enough in terms of his CV to have an opinion on the subject.

“I had a conversation with someone else who has managed down south at that level and in Scotland and it wasn’t Derek Adams. And privately that was the information, the consensus I was kind of getting from them.

“But I go back to recruitment. What markets can you recruit from? Me personally, I’m recruiting from National League, National League North, National League South.”

• Dundee have scored in their last six games in the Scottish Premiership, their longest scoring streak this season.

• Ross County have failed to score in nine of their 17 games, only Livingston (10) have failed to score more often in the Scottish Premiership this season.

• Dundee have kept a clean sheet in seven of their 16 games, only Rangers (10) and Hearts (eight) have done this more often in the Scottish Premiership this season.

• Simon Murray attempted four shots in this game, the joint-highest total for a Ross County player in the Scottish Premiership this season.

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We asked for your thoughts after Ross County suffered a late defeat to Dundee...

Davie: Didn't deserve to lose, didn't do enough to win. Shocker of a game. Ball will be bruised.

John: If Derek thinks County were bad he should have been here under Mackay. Is Derek playing Devils advocate? Difficult to believe he made these comments without carefully considering the impact on players and fans.

Jim: Please go back to Morecombe where you feel at ease. Totally disrespectful to the club, players, and chairman who gave him the job.

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Ross County manager Derek Adams tells BBC Scotland: "We were the better side, we had the better chances, most of the play, created good openings, and should have been ahead. That takes nothing away from the fact that the game was really poor.

"The standard is shocking. It's one of the worst games I've ever seen. I've been back and I see the standard and I think 'wow - any chance?' If I'm a spectator watching this today, I'm thinking 'is this what Scottish football is all about?' It needs to up it's game.

"We were better than Dundee. Tony Docherty has to say that because we were. They weren't in our box much, they put in good corners but did they trouble us? No.

"I'm so disappointed. We've been done with a sucker punch but in the final third we have to be better. I can't change the standard at this moment in time. I'm so frustrated. I look at the squad, I know what's been spent, and we have to do a lot better.

"The players have to do a lot better than they're doing at the moment. Yes, we had a bounce but flipping heck... We need more than a bounce. We need players to give week in, week out.

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Ooft, that was a gut-punch for you County fans. How are you feeling after that Did you deserve to win?

How has Derek Adams done in his first few games in charge?

Let us know your thoughts here.

Andrew Petrie, BBC Sport Scotland

Derek Adams said before the game that Ross County had squandered plenty of chances in the 2-0 loss to St Mirren.

They did the same again today, with Dundee denying them on the line on at least two occasions and Trevor Carson making a few fine saves.

This time though, it seemed they wouldn't gift any soft goals. That was until the 96th minute, when Alex Samuel's clearance hit off Joe Shaughnessy.

The Dundee skipper couldn't believe it. He was merely stood in the right place at the right time, he wasn't trying to score - just to block the ball. And yet it went in and County left with nothing, despite all their endeavour.

Ross County: Laidlaw, Brown, Nightingale, Baldwin, Leak, Purrington, Allardice, Randall, Dhanda, Murray, White.

Substitutes: Munro, Turner, Sims, Sheaf, Loturi, Harmon, Henderson, Samuel, Brophy.

Dundee: Carson, McGhee, Shaughnessy, Lamie, Donnelly, Cameron, Boateng, McCowan, Beck, Bakayoko, Robinson.

Substitutes: Legzdins, Kerr, Tiffoney, Mulligan, Reilly, Robertson, Rudden, Howley, Sylla.

Ross County have full-back Will Nightingale back from suspension while striker Eamonn Brophy and midfielder Jay Henderson have trained all week following injuries.

But defender Dylan Smith is out after suffering an ankle injury against St Mirren last weekend, while Ross Callachan and Ben Paton are long-term absentees.

Dundee face being without Antonio Portales for around three months after the defender picked up a hamstring injury, while winger Marcel Lewis is also out for the trip to Dingwall.

Owen Beck is doubtful with the groin injury that kept the on-loan Liverpool left-back out of last weekend's defeat by Rangers, while Diego Pineda remains sidelined.

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At the request of both clubs, the game between Motherwell and Ross County has been rescheduled.

Due to take place on Wednesday 7 February, the game has been moved to the day before on Tuesday 6 February.

The game will kick off at 19:45 GMT at Fir Park.