Malky Mackay wasn’t overly dismayed with Ross County’s failure to avoid the Scottish Premiership play-off zone after defeat at Kilmarnock on Sunday.
The Staggies travelled to Ayrshire knowing that only a win would see them save from any fears of relegation for the following season, and their worst fears were confirmed after a 3-1 loss on the west coast consigned them to a two-legged play-off with Partick Thistle, which begins on Thursday.
Partick have scored 14 goals in just four games in the four play-off ties, making them a feared outfit for anybody. But Mackay isn’t swayed by the challenge; insisting that had someone offered him a play-off not so long ago,
Mackay told BBC Sportsound: “I thought we did okay over the piece. Little decisions here and there [cost us].
“We lost Jordan White to a dreadful cut – he’s away at A&E just now getting a lot of stitches to his head – and he’s been very good for us this year.
“We lost a really poor goal, a set-play for the first one. And their penalty in the second half comes from a good attack from us and a poor cross.
“It left us a mountain to climb and although we came back into it and pushed hard, with 10 minutes or so to we looked out on our feet and had to start protecting for Thursday night.
“If you’d told me four weeks ago when we were four points adrift at the bottom that we would be in with a fighting chance in a play-off, we would have taken that.”