Goalkeeper Ashley Maynard-Brewer insists Ross County won’t get carried away by their five-star show at Dundee because they must maintain those sky-high standards, starting at home to Hibs today.
The on-loan Charlton Athletic shot-stopper was impressive in Wednesday’s 5-0 Premiership rout at Dundee, saving a deflected shot at 0-0 and looked strong in the second half as the shell-shocked hosts sought a consolation.
Not only was it rock-bottom County’s first Premiership win of the campaign and their biggest top-table victory, it was the first time they’d kept opponents out since drawing with St Johnstone in the season opener on July 31.
We need to maintain high standards
The 22-year-old Aussie, who is on loan from the English League One Addicks for the season, felt that was a victory which was always in the pipeline as they get set to host Hibernian this afternoon.
He said: “We needed the win on Wednesday and I think it’s a fair reward for our hard work. The mood has been good since then, but we know we need to build upon that.
“I think we have set the standard for our performances and, going forward, we need to maintain that.
“We did need the win, but we all felt it was coming. We were not getting our rewards for our performances in the last few weeks, so we had to take our chances on Wednesday.
“When the results were not going our way, we knew we were doing the right things. We had four recent losses and they were all by one goal.
“A lot of the reasons we were losing were avoidable, so we still had belief. It was only a matter of time before we got a slice of luck and things went our way.
“We just have to ensure we don’t get too carried away with Wednesday’s result. We know we have to go on a bit of a run now and build on our performances.”
First shut-out for Maynard-Brewer
Maynard-Brewer took over from Ross Laidlaw when he made his Staggies debut in the 2-2 draw with Hearts on September 18 and has racked his six appearances overall.
Back-to-back 3-2 defeats against St Mirren and Livingston cut County drift by four points at the foot of the Premiership before their sparkling win at Dundee sliced the gap between their midweek opponents to just one point.
The goalkeeper, who has had loan spells at Chelmsford, Hampton and Richmond, Dulwich Hamlet and Dover, admits the fast-paced Scottish top-flight required an adjustment period.
However, he’s sure that he is learning daily and improving between the sticks for the Staggies.
He added: “My performance at Dundee was much improved from the last few weeks.
“After a year or two of sitting on the bench and not getting consistent games, it has been tricky. It has been hard to get used to the standard of the Scottish Premiership.
“I have taken on board a lot of what has happened in the last few games and I felt a complete performance was coming.
“I just needed to take on board what I’ve learned and go into the Dundee game with a clear mind and I feel I did that and was a lot happier with my performance.”
Our goal was to keep Dundee out
Maynard-Brewer also stressed the team were determined to ensure, despite being 4-0 ahead at the break, they would be leaving Tayside on Wednesday having not leaked a goal.
He said: “We needed the clean sheet. Over the last few weeks, we have been conceding a few sloppy goals and that was really frustrating.
“When we went in at half-time, the message was to keep going and make sure we keep doing the right things, including getting the clean sheet.”
