Ross County goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw is eagerly awaiting the potential return of supporters to Victoria Park for the Staggies’ next match at home to Celtic.
County have put forward a request for their stadium to be used as a test venue, ahead of the Scottish government’s indicative date of September 14 for the partial return of crowds to Scottish sporting events.
The Dingwall side host the Hoops in their next outing a week on Saturday, which is likely to be one of up to three fixtures selected as a trial for a limited number of supporters to attend.
Having become accustomed to playing County’s first six matches of the campaign behind closed doors, Laidlaw is welcoming the prospect of a home crowd at Dingwall.
Laidlaw said: “It will be good if we can get fans in back in next week and hopefully we will be able to get even more in after that.
“It will be good to get a bit of atmosphere because it’s not good playing in front of an empty stadium.
“Just before the game, at the start and when goals go in, there’s no real celebration from fans, there’s no banter or atmosphere.
“It is different, but everyone is kind of used to it now. It still feels like a bounce match.
“It will be good when we start getting fans back in through the gates and start to feel a bit more real.
“The fans will have missed going to games as well, not just us. The sooner we get them to games, the better.”
County were defeated 1-0 by Livingston on Saturday, in their final match before this weekend’s international break.
The Staggies had to play the majority of the second half with 10 men following Carl Tremarco’s dismissal, with Jon Guthrie heading home the decisive goal on 65 minutes.
Laidlaw was frustrated with the outcome, adding: “We have been on a good run at the start of the season so we thought we could come here and get a win, but it’s disappointing we didn’t get a result.
“I don’t think we really started well, and we never had many chances in the game. The sending off kind of changed the game for us.
“It’s a hard thing to do, to defend for most of the second half with 10 men, but I actually thought we did all right.
“We didn’t create too many chances, but it’s frustrating it was just a ball into the box.”
Laidlaw insists the Staggies were well prepared for a physical match against Livi, adding: “When you come here you know it’s not going to be a pretty game of football.
“It was exactly that – it was a horrible game to play in. The astroturf isn’t great for playing football on but it suits their style and fair play to them. That’s how they get points at home and do well.
“It’s up to us to come here and do better against them.”
