“There’s no point hoping we can do it; we need to believe.”

“There’s no point hoping we can do it; we need to believe.”

Ross Laidlaw sat down to discuss his thoughts after Ross County slumped to a 2-0 defeat to Dundee United at the Global Energy Stadium last weekend.

Laidlaw, who made 2 excellent first half saves to keep the Staggies level, explained his frustration with the result after such a promising first hour of football from County:

“I think we played very well, especially after the first 60 minutes. I think they had a couple of chances when Shankland went through but I think we were well in the game at that point.

“I think we just weren’t as brave as I think we could’ve been. I don’t think folk got on the ball as much and we ended up almost panicking and going with a long ball instead of playing the football we’ve been playing.”

The keeper also admitted that Dundee United’s goals ‘shocked’ the Staggies, but he hopes his side will now be able to shake off setbacks as opposed to neglecting their game plan amidst adversity. He said:

“It kind of shocked the system as we were in a good spell in the match, we needed to reset and go again but we didn’t do that and we got flustered and it gave Dundee United a lift in the game. With them getting that goal and they pressed us more and I think a bit of panic set in and we started kicking the ball long rather than sticking to our game plan.

“That’s probably the most disappointing thing, rather than the goals, it’s that we never stuck to our game plan for the full game.

“Set-pieces as well, we’ve let in 5 goals in the last 4 weeks from set-pieces… that’s also been really disappointing. But we still believe we can go and get a result (this weekend vs Hibs).”

Laidlaw then highlighted the significance of bouncing back this weekend with a positive result, to reward another positive performance.

County host high-flying Hibernian, but for the ex-Hibee, there’s no hope ahead of the match, just belief. He explained:

“We need to get wins on the board and we need to stick to what the gaffer is telling us. It’s so important that we believe that we can do it because there’s no point hoping we can do it; we need to believe. Everyone needs to get behind us and stick together as one.