Malky Mackay highlighting both good and bad of performances to struggling team

Celtic v Ross County – cinch Premiership – Celtic Park
(Image credit: jeffholmes, Jeff Holmes)

Ross County manager Malky Mackay has been careful to balance the need to highlight costly mistakes with reinforcing the positive traits of recent displays.

The cinch Premiership bottom club are still looking for their first league win of the season ahead of Saturday’s visit of Livingston.

Individual errors made a major contribution to their latest setback, a 3-2 home defeat by St Mirren, and Mackay and his coaching staff have been doing some analysis with players in a bid to eradicate those defensive blunders.

But he has also been sure to stress the positive aspects of their play as he encourages his players to keep creating chances – and start taking more.

Mackay told Ross County’s YouTube channel: “We had a good debrief concerning the St Mirren game. We looked at the mistakes we made but also the positive nature of the chances we created – 20 chances and 20 crosses in one game – and the positive way we finished the game.

“We have got to take that into this Saturday’s game against Livingston, knowing we have to cut out those errors and make sure that dominance actually shows.

“We are getting to the areas, we are creating those chances, you just need to put the ball in the net.

“But that’s as much of your job as anything else is during the week.

“We show them the evidence, we show them the chances they create, the chances they claim.

“And at some point there has got to be an ownership of that, which the guys know as well.”