Ross County

Ross County welcome back captain Jack Baldwin for the first time since before the winter break.

The centre-back takes his place in a back three in place of Loick Ayina.

James Brown also comes in, with striker Simon Murray absent from the squad.

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Ross County: Wickens, Brown, Efete, Baldwin, Leak, Reid, Loturi, Sheaf, King, White, Brophy.

Substitutes: Laidlaw, Borthwick-Jackson, Sims, Harmon, Henderson, Khela, Jenks, Ayina.

Image source, BBC Sport

Hibernian midfielder Luke Amos is facing a couple of weeks out with a muscle injury sustained against Dundee last weekend.

Long-term absentees Josh Campbell and Jake Doyle-Hayes remain sidelined.

Ross County are set to have an unchanged squad, although midfielder Ross Callachan is stepping up his training programme following a long-term knee injury.

Will Nightingale, Connor Randall, Scott Allardice, Dylan Smith and captain Jack Baldwin also remain out.

Image source, SNS

Image source, SNS

Ross County interim manager Don Cowie has challenged his side to impose themselves on Saturday's game at Easter Road despite acknowledging the strength of Hibernian's attacking options.

County have collected four points from their last two games and have the chance to edge closer to the teams above them when they take on Nick Montgomery's side.

Hibs are unbeaten in four games, though, and attacking-minded players Martin Boyle, Dylan Vente, Elie Youan, Myziane Maolida and Emiliano Marcondes have all been among the goals in that run.

"It will be a very tough game against a team that has very good attacking players," Cowie said on a club video.

"So we will need to defend very well and then it's about us trying to implement our game and causing them problems."

Ross County have appointed former AFC Wimbledon coach Jason Moriarty as their new head of performance.

The 37-year-old had been sports scientist with Brunei-based side Brunei DPMM since January last year.

"Jason has been working alongside our departing sport scientist, Alun Andrews, to make the transition as smooth as possible," Ross County said in a statement.

"We wish Alun all the very best for the future and thank him for his contribution during his time at the club.

Moriarty began his career at AFC Wimbledon, spending 12 years there as fitness coach and sports scientist. He also worked with Reading and Crawley Town before his move to Brunei.

Image source, Getty

Image source, SNS

We offered you the chance to submit questions to one of our Sportscene pundits.

Q: Would you get rid of VAR?

I don’t envisage Scotland making a drastic call about VAR while other nations still operate with it. We need to accept it’s here to stay.

Within football there has to be an element of human error, players make mistakes, but the fact we’ve seen a big increase in errors means there’s clear improvement required.

That goes beyond Scottish football, though, you see that all over the place. What we need to do here is continue to upskill the referees. Their performances need to improve and there needs to be more accountability.

These incorrect decisions are very costly for clubs. Recognising an error is okay, but you can’t be offering out apologies every week.

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We offered you the chance to submit questions to one of our Sportscene pundits.

Q: How do you see the relegation fight unfolding?

The beauty of the split means every game will have a purpose.

With Bojan Miovski, Aberdeen will have enough because they have the ability to score goals.

Motherwell come into that same category with the additions they’ve made and the form of Theo Bair and Blair Spittal.

I think Livingston will put up a fight but will ultimately go down automatically. That leaves Ross County and St Johnstone to fight it out to avoid the play-off.

Ross County will be hoping to increase the gap with Livingston at the foot of the table when they travel to Easter Road on Saturday.

After Tuesday night's draw with St Mirren, what changes, if any, should Don Cowie make to the starting line-up against Hibernian?

Pick your XI for the trip to Edinburgh here.

Were you at Victora Park or following the match from home? Either way, we want your views on the game – have your say here.

Ross County interim manager Don Cowie: "I'm disappointed for them because I thought they defended extremely well. It just highlights how you need to be switched on for the full game. It's something we need to learn from.

"Jordan [White] was very ruthless for the goal to sniff out the opportunity. That's good for the team and something we need to build on.

"I would've loved three points, but overall I felt a draw was probably a fair result."

Thomas Duncan
BBC Sport Scotland

This was not a game for the purists, and Ross County would not have cared one bit had they held on for a precious win.

However, the same old defensive issues which have plagued them all season ended up costing them. It was a simple ball through which should have been dealt with, but Loick Ayina delayed and was punished.

Players like Jordan White, Eamonn Brophy, and Simon Murray plus the injured Yan Dhanda means they will pose a threat to teams, but they have the worst defensive record in the Premiership. Until they fix that the threat of relegation will remain until the end of the season.

Ross Morren
Fan writer

After ten league matches without a win, Ross County fans could be forgiven if they forgot what it was like to experience that winning feeling.

But Josh Sims’ stoppage-time winner secured a vital 3-2 against Livingston and earned the Staggies their first victory since 5 December.

Don Cowie’s team selection caught many fans by surprise. Jordan White, Eamonn Brophy and Simon Murray all started together in a narrow front three to try to exploit Livingston’s defensive frailties and throughout the first half, Cowie’s masterplan worked to perfection.

The County forwards caused all sorts of problems with their combination play and movement, with Brophy’s second goal a perfect example. White and Murray combined before the latter found Brophy on the right-hand side of the box where he fired a right-footed shot into the top corner.

In the second half, the nerves amongst the home fans reappeared as Livingston raced out of the traps and halved the deficit through Bruce Anderson. County have twice thrown away two-goal leads in the league this season, against Motherwell and Hearts, and it looked like they’d done the same again as Anderson doubled his tally five minutes from time to level the scores at 2-2.

It looked like Livingston might go on to win the match as they had the momentum with them, but it wasn’t to be. Following some great work from Max Sheaf and Jordan White in the build-up, Josh Sims found some space to fire the ball low beyond Shamal George to send the home fans crazy.

The victory has given everyone associated with the club a confidence boost. It showed the character and togetherness among the group which Don Cowie has praised in recent weeks.

For Cowie, picking up his first victory as interim manager in such an important match will be a huge boost for him; it’ll build support and trust from the fans, and will hopefully provide momentum as the club looks to avoid relegation.

Ross Morren can be found on The County Corner, external.

Ross County's Will Nightingale remains out while Scott Allardice, Jack Baldwin, Connor Randall and Dylan Smith have missed recent games.

Midfielder Ross Callachan was due to return to full training on Monday.

St Mirren are boosted by the return of captain and midfielder Mark O'Hara while forward Conor McMenamin could make the bench.

Full-back Ryan Strain has been nearing fitness but is likely to miss out again.

Image source, SNS

Image source, SNS

• The home side has won each of the last six Scottish Premiership meetings between Ross County and St Mirren, with the Staggies currently on their best ever winning run at home against the Saints in the top-flight (three wins).

• St Mirren have won seven of their last 11 league games against Ross County (D1 L3), and following a 2-0 win in their most recent meeting in December, are looking to keep back-to-back league clean sheets against the Staggies for the first time since February 2021.

• Ross County have only won two of their last 11 midweek Scottish Premiership games (D5 L4), although one of those was a 1-0 victory at home to St Mirren in November.

• St Mirren lost six straight away games in the league prior to Christmas, but have since won two of three league matches on the road, with both wins coming by a 3-0 scoreline (against Aberdeen and Hibs).

• Jordan White has scored in three of his five previous home games for Ross County against St Mirren, including both of his last two, and the winner in this exact fixture in November.

Image source, SNS

Interim boss Don Cowie feels he can use his long-standing relationships with Ross County players to continue instilling belief in the team.

Derek Adams claimed his Morecambe team were 100 times better than the side he inherited from Malky Mackay, during his third spell as manager.

But former assistant Cowie says his players have been "very receptive", and wants his side to build from their crucial win against Livingston.

“It’s a slightly different role,” Cowie told Sky Sports. “Naturally I have had to adapt.

“I think my role as assistant manager has enabled me to build up relationships with the players, and I have got to see that as a positive, and use it.

“I’m really enjoying it. It’s a great group of players I have got, very receptive, working very hard on the training ground, and it’s just about instilling the belief in them.

“I have seen them over a period of time, the last two-and-a-half years, I know what they are capable of, but it’s about striving for that consistency.”

Image source, BBC/SNS

I sensed a change in David Martindale this weekend. Ahead of kick-off, you could see he was desperate for the game to start.

Before the relegation rivals met, I said it would be vitally important that Ross County picked up the three points and put Livingston to bed. However, with the way the game unfolded, I'm not sure it's a closed case.

They’ve got absolutely huge games to come against Motherwell and then St Johnstone. Now, Ross County are only two points behind the Perth Saints with a game in hand.

This next week is going to be absolutely huge for all three clubs at the bottom of the relegation tussle.

Despite losing that big game in the Highlands, I wouldn’t write Livingston off just yet. I saw a bit of the old Livi – and a bit of the old Martindale – on Saturday afternoon.

That’s not to say they’re going to survive, but even after defeat, I’m just not as certain as I was two weeks ago. It should be a fascinating conclusion to the season.

Michael Stewart was speaking to BBC Scotland's Sean McGill