Ross County 4-0 Celtic B: Assistant boss Callum Davidson tips Challenge Cup goal spree to lift the mood for Championship strugglers

Callum Davidson hopes Ross County’s 4-0 Challenge Cup win over Celtic B can stir a revival in their bid to move off the foot of the Championship.

Jay Henderson put the Championship’s bottom team ahead just before half-time after having had all the chances of note against a well-drilled young Hoops team, who areninth in the Lowland League.

Ross Docherty doubled the scoreline early in the second half before Jamie Lindsay’s late brace provided the team a morale-boosting result in this second-round tie in Dingwall.

Morale-boosting win – Davidson

Assistant boss Davidson was delighted to see their much-changed side get the job done in such style.

He said: “After Saturday, it was a tricky tie. We needed to shake ourselves down, but the lads performed really well under the circumstances.

“Celtic and Rangers teams always play a certain way. They try to play through the lines and they have some really good technical young players.

“We knew if we did our things well, we could get the victory, and I thought we did that.

“All credit to Celtic. Their young lads put in a good performance but we’re just pleased to get into the next round.

“Hopefully that build a wee bit of confidence. We’re looking at how we shift the momentum and the mood around the place. Wins will definitely help that.

“I have been in football long enough to know that wins give players a wee bit of belief, which is great.”

The downside were four players went off with injuries during the tie – Nicky Clark, Dean Cornelius, Miller Thomson and Ben Crompton.

Davidson said they will all be assessed in the coming days before their weekend league trip to seventh-placed Raith Rovers.

Eight changes from weekend defeat

Home manager Tony Docherty, whose team lost 2-1 against Airdrie on Saturday to fall 10th in the Championship, made eight changes to his starting 11.

Only Dylan Smith, Connor Randall and Dean Cornelius were retained from the weekend.

In came goalkeeper Brad Foster, defenders Len O’Sullivan and Alex Iacovitti, midfielders Docherty and Lindsay, winger Henderson, and attackers Clark and Thomson.

Stephen McManus’ visitors emerged from the group section, with Hearts being the only other Premiership top-flight club making it this far.

After Celtic’s 4-2 weekend win against basement side East Stirlingshire, McManus made four changes to his line-up, with goalkeeper Marcus Gill and midfielders Sean McArdle, Tom Pickford and Ben Summers handed starts.

After soaking up some early pressure in the rain, County rattled the woodwork when Henderson spotted an opening and swerved a shot off the crossbar.

Further tidy play from County led the the next opening on 15 minutes as the ball then fell to Randall, playing right-back, and he scorched a shot over the top.

Injuries stacked up along with goals

The young Celts were knocking the ball about, probing for a way into the tie, but they were being kept at bay, and just lacking a bite in the final third.

Striker Clark suffered a couple of knocks and had to come off on 18 minutes, with Jordan White taking his place.

White was next to have a go, this time with a header flashing wide when he met a cross from left-back Len O’Sullivan.

Another injury, this time for Cornelius, led to him going off just after half an hour, with Crompton replacing him.

The breakthrough came four minutes before half-time when Henderson crashed home from inside the penalty box, putting the gloss on another swift attack which left the defenders trailing.

Docherty volleyed home for 2-0 lead

It was 2-0 within two minutes of the restart as White’s header came off the crossbar and Docherty was ideally placed to volley the ball high into the net.

That gave the Dingwall team that extra breathing space and they came close again on 63 minutes when Henderson swerved a free-kick from just outside the box over the top.

Celtic continued to knock the ball around with pace and precision, but not in any areas of threat to concern Ross County.

Celtic sub Kayden Daly tried to find a way to test Foster with a drive from the edge of the box but Randall cleared it just before fellow sub Emmanuel Obidiwe curled a low shot wide as the Hoops sought to halve the deficit.

The scoring was completed with nine minutes to go as Lindsay as he knocked the ball into the net a great run from Gary Mackay-Steven and Lindsay netted again four minutes later when Henderson ted him up.

There was a late injury for Crompton as he hobbled off with what looked like a leg injury.

Ross County v Celtic B ratings

ROSS COUNTY (4-3-2-1): Foster 6, Randall 6, Smith 6, Iacovitti 5 (Gallagher 46), O’Sullivan 7, Cornelius 4 (Crompton 32), Docherty 6 (Fraser 68), Lindsay 6, Henderson 7, Thomson 5 (Mackay-Steven 46), Clark 3 (White 18).

Subs not used: Laidlaw (GK), Hale, Coyle, Scott.

CELTIC B (4-3-3): Gill 6, Crawford 6, Hale 6, Borland 6, Kyle 6, Pickford 6, Turley 7 (Kayden Daly 62), Hartington 6 (Skorb 62(, Summers 5 (Obidiwe 46), Isiguzo 7, McArdle 6.

Subs not used: Shaw, Haney, Conor Daly, Rachwal, Keenan.

Referee: Joel Kennedy.

Man of the match: Jay Henderson.

[Source: Press and Journal]