Ross County's Rangers display has bottom six teams on red alert as relegation play-off battle looms

Only Hibs have breathing space as Staggies show they are up for fight

While the ramifications for the Premiership title race have dominated the headlines in the wake of Rangers’ 3-2 defeat by Ross County, the result also has big implications on the battle to avoid the relegation play-off.

Livingston, currently bottom of the table and 12 points adrift of safety, are booked for dropping down to the Championship automatically. Back in February, it looked between them and Ross County as to who would prop up the pile come the end of the season, but the departure of Malky Mackay as manager and the appointment of Don Cowie, at least until the end of the season in an interim capacity, has rejuvenated the Staggies. They currently occupy 11th place but just a point behind St Johnstone, they have confidence and momentum after stunning Rangers on the Black Isle.

Saints are the closest team to County in tenth but with five matches to go in the bottom six, there is an argument that a few teams should be glancing over their shoulder. County have 30 points with a goal difference of -24, St Johnstone are on 31 points (-22), then it’s ninth-placed Aberdeen on 35 points (-14), Motherwell in eighth on 37 points (-5) and seventh-placed Hibs on 39 points (-7)

Ross County's Simon Murray (L) celebrates with Yan Dhanda and Josh Sims during the win against Rangers.

Nick Montgomery’s Hibees would require their own collapse plus an improbable series of results elsewhere to finish 11th, so they can all be excluded from this conversation. But for Motherwell, Aberdeen and St Johnstone, Ross County’s Highland sting on Rangers was not welcomed at all. Whoever finishes second-bottom will compete in a two-legged play-off with one of the teams from the Championship. County played Partick Thistle last season and needed a nail-biting penalty shoot-out in Dingwall to preserve their Premiership status. These are always fraught affairs.

Play like they did against Rangers for the remainder of the season and County will not finish 11th. Many within football had 41-year-old Cowie, a former Scotland midfielder, down as a manager long before he retired. An eloquent, calm and grounded individual, he has yet to lose a home game since taking charge, winning a vital match against Livingston as well as taking the scalps of Hearts and the Ibrox club. Three of their post-split fixtures are due to be at home, with Aberdeen, Motherwell and Hibs expected to make the journey to the Global Energy Stadium. With only one away win all season, it is clear how important home comforts are for County.

Keeping playmaker Yan Dhanda and striker Simon Murray fit and firing will be vital too. Dhanda is due to join Hearts next season after agreeing a pre-contract deal with Jambos but his commitment to the County cause has not wavered despite that. Murray, one of Scottish football’s more underappreciated forwards, has netted 18 times in all competitions. Only Aberdeen’s Bojan Miovski has a better record in the bottom six. County’s last clean sheet came on December 5 – they have yet to keep one under Cowie – so maintaining a steady supply of goals will be vital.

Managerless Aberdeen’s upturn in the league since Neil Warnock’s interim arrangement with the club ended last month has given them reason for slightly optimism. The team appears more functional and solid under current caretaker Peter Leven. But with captain Graeme Shinnie suspended for the first game after the split and goals drying up in attack, there will be nervous glances beneath them. Motherwell, two points better off and with an in-form striker in Theo Bair, have more breathing space and one more win will be enough for them to breathe easily.

St Johnstone, who lost 2-0 to Kilmarnock at the weekend, are only a point ahead of the Staggies.

That leaves Craig Levein’s St Johnstone, whose 2-1 victory at Easter Road against Hibs at the start of the month now looks extremely significant. They followed that up with a limp display against Kilmarnock at home at the weekend, losing 2-0. Playing County at home post-split will be a boost to them, while Hibs are also due at McDiarmid Park. Saints have never quite done enough to ensure their safety throughout the campaign and they will be the team County are now looking to reel in.

There can be no doubt of the confidence County have taken from their first win over Philippe Clement’s men. “It is a massive win against a team like Rangers,” said their midfielder Josh Sims. “To beat them here is really big but not only that it is a massive three points for us in the season. It was almost a free hit type of game. Nobody expected us to take anything from the game and to take three points was massive. Other teams will be looking at this result and they will be gutted that we took the three points.

Namechecking the Perth club, Sims continued: “We are one point behind St Johnstone but it was the manner of the way we did it. We took the game to Rangers. They are a brilliant team but it took them by surprise. If we can do it against Rangers we can do it against anybody in this league. We have to take that belief into the remaining games. St Johnstone and the teams above us will be looking at this result and thinking we are on the up. They wouldn’t have expected us to take anything from this game so it is really good for us.”

The post-split fixtures are unlikely to be published until later in the week. How they are configured will be of interest, as with their tails up, nobody will want to be slated for Dingwall on the weekend of April 27.