Ross Laidlaw believes a settled rearguard has helped Ross County to become a stronger defensive unit.
The Staggies kept their second clean sheet of the season, when they shared a 0-0 draw against St Johnstone on Saturday.
It was County’s second successive draw, having drawn 1-1 with Aberdeen in another strong defensive showing on their last outing.
Goalkeeper Laidlaw has played all seven of the Staggies’ league matches this season, fighting off competition from Jake Eastwood and Ross Munro so far.
Centre halves Jack Baldwin and Alex Iacovitti have predominantly played at centre-half, while Ben Purrington has also started every game at left-back.
Laidlaw feels a sound understanding across the backline has helped Malky Mackay’s men show an improved resilience.
He said: “Probably over the last few years, a big criticism of the team has been conceding too many goals.
“If we can start keeping more clean sheets and being hard to break down, that will be important to us.
“That consistency of playing with the same goalkeeper and back four does start to build that understanding.
“If you can secure a clean sheet, you always have a chance of winning the game, so that’s got to be the big positive.
“Having a similar back four every week really helps. Keith Watson came in today, but has been part of it for years.
“A settled back four, along with myself and Ross Callachan and Jordan White up through the spine of the side, is a real plus.”
New arrivals need time to adapt to Scottish game
Laidlaw, who has been at Victoria Park since 2019, is among County’s longest-serving players.
Mackay oversaw a summer of change, with 10 new arrivals at Dingwall prior to the start of the campaign.
Laidlaw feels it will take the new additions time to adapt to the Scottish game.
Laidlaw added: “It is just a case of the new boys getting fully used to the system and how we do things.
“That will come. We saw last year how it came together when they got used to the system and how we want to play.
“They will all be good fits to that as well.
“As well as getting used to one another and the lads who were already here, they have been getting used to the league as well.
“That’s probably the biggest part of it.
“In the St Johnstone game, it was probably a battle for 60 minutes before the ball was brought down and the lads started playing.
“The new players are getting used to how frantic this league can be.
“But we came away to play a team who won 3-0 last time out against Motherwell, yet secured a clean sheet, so that’s a huge plus.”
Laidlaw eager to build on recent draws
County must wait a fortnight for their next game, at home to Laidlaw’s former club Hibernian on October 1.
The 30-year-old sees the upcoming run of fixtures as an opportunity to build momentum.
He added: “The start has been really tough for us, but we’ve got five points on the board.
“Now it is just about trying to kick on and get another win on the board.
“It was a shame last week’s game fell (due to the death of the Queen), but we’re looking forward to the next one, Hibs, and there will be a lot of games coming at us after that.
“We’re relishing it and just want to get our teeth into as many games as possible.”
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