Ross County midfielder Jackson Irvine claims the Staggies fear no team after scoring the first goal in his side’s 2-1 victory against Highland rivals Caley Thistle in the League Cup quarter-final in Inverness last night.
Irvine headed the Dingwall men into a deserved lead four minutes before half-time. County doubled the advantage just three minutes into the second-half when Michael Gardyne scored with a powerful low shot. Although Greg Tansey pulled a goal back for the hosts with a long-range goal 12 minutes from time, it was too little, too late for John Hughes’ side.
Irvine reckons reaching the last four of the League Cup for the first time is evidence of the progress County have made under manager Jim McIntyre, and he said: “I don’t think anyone should really be that surprised, given where we’ve come since February. The defeat against Hearts on Saturday was probably our poorest performance since that run started, so to bounce back so quickly, we are so pleased.
“When it comes to cup games the result is the most important thing, but we’re really pleased with the performance up until the last 20 minutes when they started to put us under pressure.
“We played some really good football and created some good chances. We could have been out of sight. Sometimes we have to dig in, and we defended magnificently in the last 10 minutes.
“There’s nobody we really fear – that’s something the manager has really tried to instil in us.”
Caley Thistle manager Hughes conceded his side was second best on the night, insisting County were worthy winners.
Hughes said: “It just never fell for us. Sometimes we just have to take it on the chin. I wish Ross County all the best. I’m delighted for them and I hope they go on and win the semi-final. We just have to roll up our sleeves and go again on Saturday against Dundee.”