Don Cowie not looking too far ahead after defeat to Hearts damaged top-six hopes

Ross County manager Don Cowie insists he is not interested in analysing his team’s Premiership top-six prospects following defeat to Hearts.

Instead, Cowie insists he is only focused on getting his team back on track when they host Dundee United after the international break.

The Staggies went into Saturday’s clash at Tynecastle just one point adrift of the Gorgie outfit but the 2-0 set-back has left them back in ninth and four points adrift of the upper tier of the table with only three pre-split games remaining.

A recent upturn in fortunes, which included three wins from four games before the weekend, has raised hopes of a top-six finish but Cowie is refusing to look too far into the future following their setback in Edinburgh.

He said: “My only focus is Dundee United – the next game that we have in two weeks’ time.

“The message has been consistent. We just focus on ourselves and try to get as many points as possible, and that’s the next one for us.

“I think it’s a really competitive league. A lot of teams have gotten good runs at different times in the season.

“We’ve been in really good form since Boxing Day really.

“We’ve managed to get quite a few points since then, so the ascendancy has been there for us.

“We thought it was an opportunity today to continue that, and we didn’t manage to do it.

“We just get our heads down and get ready for the next one.”

Hearts won the game courtesy of Elton Kabungu and Jorge Grant strikes either side of the break as County struggled to make any impact in the final third.

On loan Union Saint-Gilloise striker Kabangu has now scored eight goals in 11 outings for Hearts since joining in January and Hearts boss Neil Critchley has been delighted with his contribution.

Critchley, whose team climbed up to sixth in the table, said: “Elton is such a threat all the time. He keeps getting into goal-scoring situations and positions.

“He’s been frustrated because he’s missed a few recently. But his mentality is top, he doesn’t let it affect him.

“Inside the penalty box, he’s hard to keep quiet and for defenders he’s a menace.

“We were asking him just to play slightly wider and hang outside the centre-back. And he did that and then he dived behind him for the goal.”