Ross County remain bottom of the Premiership after falling to a 2-0 defeat against St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park.
The Staggies were sunk by a first half double by Saints midfielder Murray Davidson, and were unable to recover in a poor showing from Owen Coyle’s side.
The result means Ccounty are now three points behind Partick Thistle at the foot of the table, with only 10 games remaining.
County made one change from the side that drew 1-1 with Hearts the previous weekend, with Mattias Kait not risked due to a back strain, with Greg Tansey drafted in for his first start.
There was precious little goalmouth action in the early stages, with Saints defender Jason Kerr having the first meaningful effort with a strike which drifted well wide on 17 minutes.
County began to get into some decent areas without being able to put Saints under any pressure, which came back to bite them when they fell behind on 29 minutes. Scott Tanser’s delivery from the left flank was nodded back across goal by Steven McLean, with Davidson on hand to tuck the ball home from 10 yards.
It got worse for County on 40 minutes, with Davidson finding the target for a second time. Chris Kane’s cut back found its way to the midfielder on the edge of the box, and his looping strike looked to have been palmed to safety by Fox, but agonisingly for the goalkeeper it bounced over the line.
Saints were inches from scoring a third just two minutes later when Marcus Fraser inadvertently sent David Wotherspoon’s cross from the left off his own crossbar.
County needed a bright response at the start of the second half, but it was Saints who threatened first when Wotherspoon drilled wide from the edge of the box on 55 minutes, with Davidson unmarked to his left.
The Staggies looked for a way back into the game, with Curran sending a strike straight at Alan Mannus, before fellow substitute Kait saw a long range attempt drift wide of target.
It went from bad to worse for County on 84 minutes when Curran was shown a second yellow card after barging attacker McLean to the ground.
County still had chances to claw back some ground, with Saints goalkeeper Alan Mannus making fine late saves from Davis Keillor-Dunn and Christopher Routis, while at the other end Marcus Fraser’s last-ditch tackle prevented Denny Johnstone getting in for a third, but it was a bad day at the office for the Dingwall men.
