Midfielder Kyle Turner admits Ross County manager Derek Adams’ “shocking standards” blast was met by mixed reactions within the Dingwall squad.
Adams’ decision to criticise the performance of his side as well as Dundee’s display following the Dark Blues’ stoppage-time 1-0 win at the Global Energy Stadium captured attention across the country.
The boss, who has recently kicked off this third spell in charge of the Staggies, said the English League Two club Morecambe that he’s just left were 100 times better than the one he’s just inherited from Malky Mackay.
Adams confirmed he has apologised for making such a comparison and he wants his players to respond in a positive manner, starting against Hibs this Saturday.
Squad keen to move on against Hibs
Turner, who was signed by Mackay from Championship side Partick Thistle in the summer, was quizzed on the reaction from the squad.
He said: “It has been mixed I would say, but we just need to look forward to the next game.
“Last Saturday against Dundee, there wasn’t much in the game to be honest. It has been like that the last few weeks.
“St Mirren were the better team against us for sure, and they deserved to win (2-0 recently), but before that we had two good wins (against St Mirren and Motherwell).
“The Dundee game and the Kilmarnock games (1-0 loss and 0-0 draw) were very similar, so we just look forward to Hibs now.”
Ross County’s Derek Adams says sorry to players after outburst
‘We have our own feelings’ – Turner
Turner was asked whether hearing such a poor assessment of their performance on Saturday was difficult to hear.
He said: “I wouldn’t say it was. I would just say that boys know after the game that if you get beat you might get a reaction from the manager.
“To be honest, I haven’t come across anything that strong.
“That’s the manager, that’s his reaction and what he thinks of it.
“Listen, boys can disagree or agree. We have our own feelings, and that’s just the way it is.
“We just need to forget about it and look to the next game.”
Ross County ‘need to stick together’
And the 26-year-old can’t see the comments being a distraction going into the clash with Hibs.
He said: “The players are professionals, so we’ve seen managers have rants before.
“We’ve got a great group of boys in there, so we need to stick together as a team and go out and perform on Saturday.”
Turner pressing for more starts
The aim for Turner now is to secure more minutes on the park. He has yet to start under Adams and 13 of his 21 appearances so far have come from the bench.
He said: “Like every player, if you’re not playing as much as you want to you’re frustrated.
“For me, it’s just about getting back into the team and training well so that I can be in the manager’s plans, and then when I’m in the team taking my chance.”
County aim to find way past Hibees
Tenth-placed County, who travel to Glasgow to face Viaplay Cup winners Rangers on Wednesday, are aiming to slice the gap between themselves and Hibs to four points when they meet this weekend.
Turner believes they can trouble the Hibees.
He said: “I’m expecting a tough game. They’ve got good players all over the pitch, and of course they’ve had some inconsistent results, but we know they’re a real threat going forward.
“They’ve got a lot of pace going forward, and a lot of boys who look after the ball really well, so we know it’s going to be a tough game.”
When the sides met at Easter Road on October 31, County hit back from two goals down to secure a 2-2 draw.
