Ross County defender says they have nothing to lose in cup clash with Hibs

Published on Thursday 11 March 2010 09:00

ROSS COUNTY defender Steven Watt says his side have nothing to lose when they travel to Easter Road this weekend.

The First Division team are the visitors on Saturday in the quarter-finals of the Active Nation Scottish Cup and Watt admits today that the Staggies will have to play their best football of the season if they are to have any hope of progressing to the last four.

County, managed by former Motherwell player Derek Adams, are joint-second in the league and, according to Watt, are more than capable of taking the game to their top-flight opponents.

The County defender is battling against time to shake off a hamstring problem that forced him to limp off in the second half of their midweek league clash with Raith Rovers, Adams admitting that his player is now a major doubt. If he does play, Watt is hoping that Hibs will give them more time and space to play their football on the deck than they are afforded in the First Division – however he conceded that John Hughes' side will be a massive hurdle for them to overcome. "Saturday will be a good day out for us, it is a terrific occasion for us, we have got nothing to lose.

"We will just go to Easter Road and enjoy ourselves but at the same time, if we apply ourselves properly then we will be there or thereabouts. I have seen a few bits and pieces from them this season and I know a few of the boys down there as well.

"They've done well so far this season and there's no doubt that they are a quality side, you don't sit that high up in the table for a sustained period of time without being a good side. They're a very good passing team and I think John Hughes has them playing a very pleasing style, I think he also did that with Falkirk.

"We like to play good football too, a passing game, but sometimes in this league that's just not possible because you have got to concern yourself with winning battles first and foremost.

"Maybe on Saturday at Easter Road we will get a chance to play some more football than we normally would."

Watt admits that he and his fellow defenders have no idea what they will face when they travel to Easter Road, because Hughes has so many options available to him up front.

Derek Riordan, Anthony Stokes, Colin Nish and Abdessalam Benjelloun are among those in Hibs' locker, although Alan Gow, another forward, is doubtful with a hamstring complaint.

Watt continued: "I think there's always a surprise where Hibs are concerned because you never know what they are going to do in terms of how many they will play up front.

"But we will just have to be organised, make ourselves hard to beat and try to hit them on the break when we can.

"We both like to play football, so hopefully it will be an entertaining match. It should be a good spectacle as a cup game and we'll be going down there to try to win the game – we're not prepared to just roll over to anyone. We'll give it our best shot, that's for sure." Watt expects both sets of supporters to create a cacophony of noise when they run out of the tunnel and, having seen Raith Rovers put one over on Aberdeen in the last round of the competition, is hoping that County can give the visiting fans something to shout about and pull-off another coup for the Irn-Bru set-up.

"I think it will be a brilliant occasion for us. Easter Road is a great stadium to play at anyway and I'm sure our fans will help to make it a great atmosphere. It's the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup at the end of the day and they don't come along too often.

"You quite often see shocks in the cup competitions – Raith did it just the other week when they beat Aberdeen in the replay at Pittodrie and Leeds against Manchester United this season – it's happening fairly regularly. Obviously John Hughes will have his side well fired up for the game though and we will be realistic about it. Even a draw would be a fantastic result for us, to bring the game back to Dingwall would be brilliant and would give us a real chance."

The Staggies centre half has played on the big stage himself having worked under both Claudio Ranieri and Jose Mourinho at Chelsea.

The 24-year-old featured in squads for Champions League matches, came on as a substitute in a league match against Newcastle and started an FA Cup tie against Scunthorpe back in 2005. He also had a spell on loan at Barnsley before making the move to Swansea in 2006 in a bid to play more first-team football.

However, his career has been hampered by injury, most notably a dislocated shoulder and a recurrence of the same problem that kept him out of the Swans team for almost the entire three years that he was on their books.

Having arrived at Ross County via Inverness Caley at the start of this season though, he has become a mainstay of Derek Adams' team and is simply glad to be playing regularly once again.

He said: "I had a bad injury when I was at Swansea and in fact ended up being out for most of the three and a half years that I was there. In my second game for them I dislocated my right shoulder and was out for the rest of that season. I dislocated it again a year later and again it was a lengthy process coming back from that.

"It meant that I was ruled out for about 90 per cent of the time that I was down there and then when I moved to Inverness it didn't really work out for me there.

"But, luckily, I have come to Ross County now and they have given me the chance to play first-team football, week in, week out."

Explaining his decision to quit Stamford Bridge almost four years ago, he continued: "When I was with Chelsea, I played in the FA Cup for them and came on in the Premiership in the last week of the season against Newcastle.

"I was also involved in a few Champions League squads and worked under Claudio Ranieri and Jose Mourinho.

"I was on the fringes of the side quite a lot but, when you're at a club like that, you're never really going to get much of a chance as a young man.

"You have got to go out and look for football elsewhere for the sake of your career. It was a great experience for me as a young guy though to be working and training with the calibre of player that was at Chelsea at that time.

"It was a good time, an exciting time but that is all in the past now. You have got to look to the future and focus on the team that you're playing for now and that is exactly what I want to do."

And, having managed to overcome his injury problems, Watt admitted that he is now enjoying the simple pleasure of being able to play regular football once again, and in one of the tightest divisions in the country where they are pushing Dundee all the way.

"I am enjoying playing regular football, injuries in the past have prevented me from playing for long periods and that was frustrating for me.

"I feel that my confidence is building all the time and I want to keep my place in the team.

"There is a great squad here and you are under pressure to perform every single week, which is a really healthy situation to be in.

"There are no easy games in this division and, if you look at last season, you can see just how tight the league actually is. I think we ended up in eighth position come the end of the season, but we were actually on the same points total as the team who finished in fifth.

"I don't think you could predict any of the results in this league if you tried, to be honest."