A breakthrough never looked likely in this poor encounter, with Staggies manager Owen Coyle unable to secure a triumphant return to former club St Johnstone.
Neither side deserved to win this match, with both goalkeepers only having to deal with efforts they would comfortably expect to save.
County’s main concern was a late injury suffered by goalkeeper Scott Fox, forcing him to be carried off and replaced by Aaron McCarey. Fox has looked solid and commanding since being restored, after being dropped for two games following his blunder against Rangers, however it now appears likely McCarey will get a quick chance to stake his own claim against Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Saturday.
Coyle returned to McDiarmid Park for the first time in a competitive capacity since his departure from the Perth club nearly 10 years ago. Saints were in the second-tier when Coyle left but have gone on to consolidate their place as consistent finishers in the upper-half of the table in recent years, however Tommy Wright’s men came into this game short of form having lost four of their last five games, failing to score in their last three.
Substitutes had made the difference for the Staggies in their 2-1 defeat of Hamilton Accies at the weekend, and Coyle once again did not hesitate in shaking things up, with four changes. Attacker Thomas Mikkelsen, the match-winner on Saturday, was brought in to lead the line, with midfield trio Ross Draper, Tim Chow and Ryan Dow also brought in. Attackers Craig Curran and Billy Mckay dropped out, along with Michael Gardyne and Jamie Lindsay, with Coyle deploying a 4-5-1 system.
The game lacked rhythm in the early stages, with neither defence put under any meaningful pressure. Concern was raised on 13 minutes over Mikkelsen who required a fresh bandage and clean shirt for his head wound which he originally suffered a week past Saturday against Hearts, with his stiches only removed in the hours leading up to the Accies game at the weekend.
Mikkelsen was able to continue however and was lively in the minutes that followed, firstly seeing a header deflected over by defender Aaron Comrie after latching on to Marcus Fraser’s cross, before he dispossessed Steven MacLean and set up Chow, who was well off target with his low drive.
Saints began to make their presence felt however, with goalkeeper Scott Fox flapping at Paul Paton’s free-kick, before Stefan Scougall saw his low strike blocked by Chow following good work down the right by Michael O’Halloran.
Chances were at a premium but Scougall called Fox into action on 34 minutes with a crisp low strike from the edge of the area that the goalkeeper did well to turn around his post.
Saints were forced to make a change three minutes before half-time when O’Halloran came off nursing a knock, with David Wotherspoon brought on to replace him.
County had the final chance of the first-half, with Davis Keillor-Dunn getting plenty purchase on Chow’s cross, but his header comfortably dealt with by goalkeeper Zander Clark.
Both sides needed to show more quality in the final third after the interval, and it was the hosts who did the early probing with Fox showing good reactions to thwart Paton’s header from a Brian Easton delivery, although the midfielder should have done better with his attempt.
Saints had another chance moments later when Wotherspoon slipped through Comrie, but he snatched at his effort. Coyle made his first change when he withdrew Mikkelsen for Curran but Saints continued to look the likelier to find a breakthrough, Wotherspoon’s free-kick taking a deflection that took the ball away from the path of skipper Joe Shaughnessy, who otherwise would have had an open goal at the far post.
Curran’s first sight of goal came on 62 minutes when his goalbound header from Kenny van der Weg’s delivery was blocked by Steven Anderson, however an even better chance came County’s way four minutes later when Jason Naismith’s low ball eventually found the unmarked Keillor-Dunn, with his curling effort beaten clear by Clark.
County’s night took a turn for the worse on 75 minutes when Fox was carried off after going down awkwardly following his own clearance, with McCarey coming on in his place.
McCarey quickly had to face another Wotherspoon free-kick, breathing a sigh of relief as the midfielder curled his effort narrowly over from the edge of the box, but the match always looked to be fizzling out into a stalemate.
