Callum Davidson felt St Johnstone’s game plan worked against Ross County

St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson praised his side’s quality on the ball in their 0-0 home draw with Ross County, despite having to name a starting XI that included “two or three” players who were absent from training this past week.

Neither side could break the deadlock in a match that lacked any real spark in the final third, despite the woodwork being struck by both sides in the first half.

Both sides could only muster one shot on target throughout the 90 minutes, despite both setting up with relatively attacking teams.

The McDiarmid Park boss said: “I thought we were good and worked it in good areas in the first half. We passed the ball quite well. The game plan worked.

“I thought we were probably second best in the first half but the second we started well and really came into the game.

“Two or three boys today played who hadn’t trained all week. Jamie Murphy was struggling with an injury. Ryan McGowan was struggling as well but managed to train on Friday.

“I got good minutes out of them and we got a good spark from the ones who came on.”

Davidson also confirmed that midfielder Graham Carey was not in the matchday squad at all due to a knee injury.

He added: “He hurt his knee at training during the week. I don’t know how long he will be out for, his knee gained swelling overnight.”

Ross County manager Malky Mackay was content with his side’s point, knowing how precious away points can be.

He said: “Hard-fought point, good clean sheet. Probably in the first half, it was a bit of basketball, both teams attacking each other, we hit the bar and they hit the post.

“I thought in the second half we came out with real intent and pushed St Johnstone back a bit, and I thought we ended up quite dominant in the wide areas.

“I’m just disappointed slightly with the quality in the final third because I thought that was what was going to win it today.

“We’ve spoken in there in terms of the final pass, final cross, and the final strike because we were getting into great positions.

“At the end, obviously, I threw on five substitutions to try go and win the game and the pleasing thing was the five substitutions came on and all impacted the game.”