County works gave Adams real grounding in pressure

DEREK Adams feared Ross County were digging themselves into a hole as the earth-movers began ripping up Victoria Park prematurely.

The Staggies’ manager admits the sight of soil and terracing being torn away in the two weeks prior to securing SPL status cranked up the pressure on him and his players.

The historic feat of winning the First Division was completed on Tuesday evening when Queen of the South’s Chris Higgins gained an unlikely place in Ross County folklore. Higgins’ late leveller at Dundee sparked wild celebrations in Ross-shire and far beyond.

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Completion of the 83-year-old club’s 18-year rise through Scottish League ranks to the Premier League confirmed Adams as one of the game’s most promising managerial properties.

In the space of five years, the 36-year-old has guided County to Second and First Division titles and steered them past Celtic to a Scottish Cup final.

Adams’ style is characterised by ice-cool analysis and attention to detail, coupled with a passionate demeanour and occasional flashes of fiery temperament. He has built a balanced, highly-motivated, superbly-fit and able squad of players who, this season, have simply swept the opposition aside.

Refreshingly, though, the County manager was candid about his own apprehensions before the achievement was sealed last Tuesday.

The former Aberdeen and Motherwell midfielder, with a touch of humour in his voice, admitted: “The diggers are already in at Victoria Park. They started a couple of weeks ago and that was a concern. I was a wee bit annoyed, but you can’t do anything. We knew we had to try and keep our focus.

“I knew the pressure was on then! I wasn’t enjoying it. They were taking away the stadium, kind of!

“We had to walk past it every morning towards the training ground and I’m thinking ‘dearie me’. You see the mounds of soil getting taken away and the markings going down on the ground and you think: ‘You’ve got a wee bit of pressure on now, Adams. You’d better get this sorted out.’ We’ve done that and I’m happy!”

The County manager stressed: “The Scottish Cup final hasn’t sunk in yet, so it might be years before this sinks in. I’m only 36 and I’ll probably be 50 before it really sinks in and I look back on history.

When you’re younger, you let things go past you, but I’ll enjoy the next four games, undoubtedly.”