HARRY PATON was the happiest man in Leith after grabbing his first goal for Ross County in Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat of Hibs that lifted them off the foot of the Premiership – but insisted that it is a case of evolution, not revolution, the Staggies require if they are to beat the drop this term.
The victory at Easter Road was County’s first in 13 Premiership outings, while Paton’s first-half strike brought a 571-minute wait for a league goal to an end as Jack Ross’ men were put to the sword, providing John Hughes with his first win as manager of the Dingwall club and a much-needed morale boost.
Paton believes the success in the capital was vindication for County’s style of play in recent weeks and reckons that if they play in a similar fashion when they welcome St Johnstone to the Highlands this afternoon, they should have an excellent chance of starting 2021 in the best possible fashion.
“It has been a long time coming,” Paton said. “It was really tough at the weekend against St Mirren [when County had two men sent off and lost 2-0], because we were playing the same kind of football until we got the man sent off.
READ MORE: Steven Gerrard on Dubai break, Premiership excuses and Rangers' momentum in the New Year
“The boys have been really good, and we know what we can do. It’s just good to show that with this result.
“The clean sheet is the main thing. If you can scrap to get the goal and get the three points, that’s great.
“We created a lot of chances and had good possession, but the clean sheet is the bare minimum for us and if we can get goals it’s even better.
“As the manager has said, we just have to keep going. If things are going well, or if they are going badly, it’s just the same mentality.
“We need to take this performance into the game against St Johnstone this weekend and try to build on it.
“We just need to keep playing the same way we have been playing.”
The Canadian midfielder added that he was delighted to open his account for the Staggies with his long-range effort against Hibs, revealing that he has been putting the hours in on the training pitch in a bid to add more goals to his game.
Paton said: “It’s great for me personally to get the goal. I’ve been searching for that all season.
“I’ve been getting chances, it’s just nice to have it finally pay off.
READ MORE: Celtic weigh up bid for Karlsson with Hoops 'closely' watching Sparta Prague winger
“I’ve been working hard in training. When I get into those positions I need to be composed to finish the ball and get it on target.
“It has been coming along and I showed against Hibs I can score.
“It was a great finish, with my left foot as well – I think I’m more of a left footer now!”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here