'I stand by it' - Derek Adams hopes 'shocking standard' comments can spur Ross County on
- Published
Derek Adams is five games into his third stint as manager at Ross County
Derek Adams feels his scathing critique of Scottish football is justified but insists he is trying to motivate the players at Ross County.
Upset after conceding a late goal in a loss to Dundee on Saturday, Adams spoke of "shocking" Premiership standards.
"What I said was from the five games I've witnessed and sometimes it's probably better that I keep my thoughts to myself," he told BBC Scotland.
"From what I've seen in the five games, I stand by it."
In those five matches since returning for a third spell in charge at Victoria Park, Adams has amassed seven points but County have now lost two in a row.
"There was real disappointment at losing a goal so late on," he said. "That was hard to take because the least we deserved was a draw.
"I thought we had played really well in spells."
During Saturday's interview Adams made the assertion that his former club Morecambe "were 100 times better than this", despite having the lowest budget in England's League Two.
"I shouldn't have referred to my former employer and that's something I do regret," he said.
"The players are disappointed by what I said, there's no doubt about that, but now they have to go out and prove on the pitch how good they are.
"I'm trying to get us moving up the league, trying to push the players on.
"People can say that's maybe devaluing them etc, but I'm trying to get them moving forward and get them thinking."
Adams is of the opinion a 12-team league "brings a lot of nervousness" but is sceptical about the expansion he would like to see happening any time soon.
Those thoughts were echoed by midfielder Kyle Turner, who said: "It's a tough league, everybody knows that. If you score first, you go on to win the game a lot of the time.
"I wouldn't say it's a poor standard. Games are cagey. People don't want to make mistakes."
Our coverage of Ross County is bigger and better than ever before - here's everything you need to know to make sure you never miss a moment
Everything Ross County - go straight to all the best content