Ross County

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Ross County manager Don Cowie told BBC Scotland: "It was a difficult game, every inch a first game of the season, a little erratic at times. Overall, delighted to come away with a point and a clean sheet.

"That's been the challenge going into the new season, we've not been good enough away from home, especially last year. Points are important, and clean sheets also, gives us a bit of confidence.

"The pleasing thing is we stuck together in a difficult game to make sure we got a point. Everyone put their body on the line. Can we play better? Absolutely. It's something we'll look to implement in the next couple of weeks because we've had a lot of new players come in. Some are behind schedule fitness wise.

"The way our club is, players settle in well in terms of environment, but sometimes it's about being on the grass and getting training into them."

What did you think of that one, Ross County fans? Happy with the point or do you think it should have been more?

Are you confident of a good season or do you think it might resemble the last couple?

Let us know your thoughts here., external

Andrew Petrie
BBC Sport Scotland

The shape of both sides - 3-5-2 - meant it was hard for either side to create much space, but it was certainly County who looked least likely to score.

The visitors struggled to get the ball down and play, looking a little timid when they got their foot on it. As a result, White and Hale up top barely had scraps to feed on.

That said, they battled well and Laidlaw kept them in the game, leaving them with the opportunity to steal all three points late on - but Will Nightingale blazed his chance over.

As usual, there has been a big turnover in the County squad over the summer. They need to gel quickly if they are to avoid another relegation-threatened season.

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Ross Laidlaw. Three saves for County's stopper but it felt like more. His saves to deny Moses Ebiye and Ewan Wilson were absolutely fantastic, particularly the latter, which ensured his side kept a point.

He is capable of games in which he looks impossible to beat, he just needs to string them together consistently so that the Staggies don't bring in another keeper in January, as they have become wont to do.

Motherwell: Oxborough; O'Donnell, Casey, Gordon, Blaney, Wilson, Zdravkovski, Halliday, Miller, Robinson, Ebiye.

Substitutes: Hegyi, Seddon, Balmer, Sparrow, Stamatelopoulos, McGinn, Callachan, Kaleta, Wells.

Ross County: Laidlaw; Brown, Leak, Wright, Nightingale, Harmon, Loturi, Randall, Grieves, Hale, White.

Substitutes: Hamilton, Chilvers, Denholm, Telfer, Efete, Samuel, Brophy, MacLeod, Reid.

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Aidan Denholm said he didn't need any convincing to join Ross County on loan, despite breaking into the Hearts first team last season.

The 20-year-old joined Don Cowie's side for the upcoming campaign after Steven Naismith admitted his first-team opportunities might be more limited this year.

"It all happened very fast, but I’m buzzing to be here," the midfielder said. "Everyone I spoke to about the club has had really good things to say.

“I spoke to Yan Dhanda, Liam Boyce and Blair Spittal and all of them were like ‘if you get a chance to go to County, go for it’. They couldn’t speak highly enough of it."

The central-midfielder made 24 appearances for Hearts last season, mainly from the bench, despite initially being released at the end of the 2022-23 season.

"I didn’t really need convincing, it was just a case of looking for games because I knew the competition back at Hearts was going to be tough.

"Don’t get me wrong, I was ready to try and get in the team at Hearts but I think there were just one too many players ahead of me. When this came about, I spoke to Don and I spoke to Naisy [Steven Naismith] and everything seemed to be right about it.

"Me and Naisy have a great relationship, he’s brutally honest with me and I’m brutally honest with him. He told me he’d like to keep me but he didn’t want to keep me and hinder my development. He knows I want to be playing as much as I can."

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• This will be the third time that Motherwell and Ross County have faced on matchday one of a top-flight season, after 2012-13 (0-0 draw) and 2020-21 (1-0 Ross County win).

• Motherwell have won both of their last two league meetings with Ross County while scoring five goals each time.

• Motherwell have won just once in the last seven league seasons on matchday one (D2 L4), beating St. Mirren 1-0 in 2022-23.

• Ross County have lost four of the five previous occasions that they have played away from home on matchday one of a top-flight season, the only exception being a 2-1 win at Dundee in 2017-18.

• Ross County only won one of their 19 away league games last season (D6 L12), failing to win any of their last 17 on the road (D6 L11). The last side to go 18 consecutive away games without a win in the Scottish top flight were Livingston from September 2018 to August 2019.

Clive Lindsay
BBC Sport Scotland

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With the new Premiership season getting under way this weekend, BBC Sport Scotland have been taking a look at some new faces to keep an eye on.

Like his former strike partner at Cliftonville, Ben Wilson, who has scored six times in four games for Airdrieonians, Ronan Hale has quickly found his feet in Scottish football.

Those feet had big shoes to fill considering the departure to Dundee of Simon Murray, whose 23 goals last season did much to ensure Ross County avoided relegation.

However, 25-year-old Hale has found the net three times in his two outings so far, suggesting the Belfast-born former Republic of Ireland Under-21 cap can replicate the form that led to 22 goals in 31 appearances last season as Cliftonville won the Irish Cup and finished third in Northern Ireland's Premiership.

Read the rest of Clive's piece here.

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Midfielder Noah Chilvers has joined Ross County on a three-year deal from English League Two side Colchester United.

The 23-year-old, who scored 23 goals in 172 league appearances for the Essex side, has moved north for an undisclosed fee.

Chilvers is County’s ninth signing of the summer.

"There was a lot of interest in Noah and we are absolutely delighted to secure his signature," County boss Don Cowie told the club’s website.

"Despite being only 23 he has amassed over 200 games in his career, and we believe he has the attributes to really excite our supporters."

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Connor Randall is the new captain of Ross County, with Jordan White his vice-captain, the club have announced.

Randall, 28, has made 117 appearances for County since joining in 2020, and has worn the captain's armband during this season's League Cup group stages.

He replaces Jack Baldwin in the role, who signed for Northampton Town earlier this summer.

Ross Morren
Fan writer

The 2023-24 Premiership season felt like an emotional rollercoaster to many Ross County fans, ending on a high as the club secured its top-flight status with victory in the play-offs for the second successive season.

With the 2024-25 Premiership looking to be the strongest it’s been in a number of years, how will the Staggies fare following a summer of transition in Dingwall?

First of all, Don Cowie heads into his first full season as a manager.

Cowie showed plenty of qualities when he was appointed to steady the ship following Derek Adams’ tumultuous 79-day reign.

He managed to turn Dingwall into a fortress with a run of form where County only lost one match in nine and picked up impressive wins against Hearts, Rangers and Hibernian respectively.

Cowie's summer transfer window got off to a tricky start with key players Jack Baldwin, Josh Sims, Yan Dhanda and Simon Murray all leaving the club, but the incomings so far are promising.

Will Nightingale has rejoined the club following impressive performances on loan last season, while Charlie Telfer, Ricki Lamie and Jack Hamilton have plenty of experience in Scottish football.

Akil Wright looks like an excellent addition to the heart of County’s defence, while Jack Grieves and Aidan Denholm have also joined on loan from Watford and Hearts respectively and will add more energy to midfield.

The signing that has excited County fans the most so far though is Ronan Hale. The striker scored 50 goals in 80 matches for Cliftonville, and already has three in two for the Staggies.

I think we’ll still see at least three or four more players arrive in Dingwall before the end of the transfer window. There’s still room in the squad for a couple of attacking midfielders following the departure of Dhanda and Sims, so I’d imagine this will be the next area of focus for County’s recruitment team.

Many pundits and fans of Scottish football have tipped County to be the side that finish bottom of the Premiership table this time around.

The first objective will be a 10th-place finish and ensuring survival for another season, but I think County will surprise a lot of people and have a much better season than many are predicting.

Predicted league finish: Eighth

Standout player: Ronan Hale

Game most looking forward to: A rare league match for County at Hampden when they face Rangers at the national stadium on the 24 August.

Ross Morren can be found on the County Corner podcast, external.

Josh Nisbet, the 25-year-old attacking midfielder twice capped by Australia, has an offer from Ross County on the table but is still considering his options amid interest from an unnamed second-tier Dutch club after leaving Central Coast Mariners. (FTBL), external

Jack Grieves, the 19-year-old attacking midfielder who has joined Ross County on loan, says Watford head coach Tom Cleverley was keen for him to experience regular first-team football to assist his development. (Press & Journal), external

Read Tuesday's Scottish Gossip in full here.

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After leaving Dundee before his pre-contract agreement could kick into life, Ricki Lamie says his Ross County move has provided him with much-needed "security" - although he's somewhat reluctant to call it that.

The centre-back spent last season on loan at Dens Park from Motherwell and signed a permanent deal there in February.

However, it was announced at the end of June that Lamie would not join Dundee and three days later he was confirmed as a County player.

On a whirlwind summer, the 30-year-old defender told Sky Sports, external: "I'd be lying if I said it didn't throw extra difficulty into the mix.

"You never like using the word security, but inevitably [that's what this move] is. Everyone's got families, mortgages, there's that aspect as well.

"But I pride myself on working as hard as I can wherever I am and I'm pleased that's up here."

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Don Cowie says new striker Ronan Hale is proving why Ross County signed him after the forward netted two goals against Stirling Albion in the League Cup.

The 3-0 win over the Binos saw County ensure a place in the knock-out stages of the competition, with Hale making it three goals in two games in his early County career.

"He took his goals really well, especially the second one," boss Cowie told club media. "It wasn’t an easy finish but he made it look easy. We know he is capable of that.

“The first goal comes at a really good time for us in terms of making that breakthrough and calming everyone down. It’s just another indication of what he brings to this group.”

Hale joined the Highland outfit in the summer after a prolific spell at Cliftonville in Northern Ireland, where he scored 50 goals in 80 appearances.

The 25-year-old, who was born in Belfast, has been linked with a Northern Ireland call-up, despite playing for the Republic of Ireland at age-grade level.

The only down side for County during the win over Albion was the loss of Ricki Lamie, who went off injured after 39 minutes.

“He just felt a slight pain in the Achilles area,” Cowie explained. “The doc’s had a look at him and doesn’t think it’s anything too sinister but we’ll see how that recovers over the coming days.”

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Midfielder Aidan Denholm has joined on a season-long loan from fellow Scottish Premiership outfit Hearts.

The 20-year-old made 14 appearances for Steven Naismith's side in the top-flight last season after initially making his debut back in 2021.

On his arrival in the Highlands, manager Don Cowie expressed his delight at capturing the youngster's talents for the upcoming campaign.

"He joins us with Scottish Premiership and European football experience yet is still at a young age," Cowie told the club website.

"Aidan joining gives us real competition in the central midfield area. We thank Hearts for their assistance in getting this done."

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Ross County have confirmed the loan signing of teenager Jack Grieves from Watford.

The 19-year-old attacking midfielder, who has played five senior games for the English Championship club, has penned a season-long deal.

Manager Don Cowie expressed his delight at signing a player who is "very highly thought of at Watford".

"He has impressed in pre-season at his parent club," the County boss adds.

"It is fantastic that he has decided to join us for the next step in his development."

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Summer signing Ronan Hale has been backed by Ross County boss Don Cowie after a stunning debut goal sparked a cup comeback against Hamilton.

The 25-year-old, who joined the Premiership side from Cliftonville earlier this month, hooked a cross over his head with his back to goal to equalise against Hamilton.

And after Jordan White headed home two minutes later to seal victory, Cowie was delighted with the start his refreshed front line has made - particularly his new signing.

“We know what he’s capable of, he’s a goalscorer," Cowie told the club's website.

"It was a fantastic finish from him and it came at a really important time for us in terms of getting back into the game.

“And another goal for Jordan, four in three, it’s a great start for him.”