Date	Saturday, 31 July 2021
Competition	Scottish Challenge Cup
Fixture/Score	Ross County 0:0 Saint Johnstone
Venue	Global Energy Stadium at Victoria Park
Attendance	1,990
Referee	Colin Steven
Comments	Match Report Report by Andy Campbell for the BBC. Ross County 0 Saint Johnstone 0 Malky Mackay hopes to add three players to his Ross County squad on Tuesday but expects the remainder of the summer transfer window to be "bumpy". County and St Johnstone played out a 0-0 draw in Saturday's opening day of Scottish Premiership fixtures. Ali McCann could have put the Perth side ahead but blazed his penalty over with 20 minutes remaining. "We've got a tough month coming up. This transfer window is going to be bumpy," Mackay told BBC Scotland. "It's a change at the club - 15 players leaving, so many players are going to have to come in. The transition will take a bit of time but we'll get there. "We're hoping to have maybe three signings done by Tuesday morning. We do that and then we look to maybe another couple by the end of the week. I need to not have the kids on the bench at the moment." Regan Charles-Cook was left all alone as he headed over the St Johnstone goal moments before Reece Devine's low shot was deflected wide at the other end in the early stages of the match. County's Ross Callachan should have ended the impasse after going beyond his team-mates from midfield and dragging a shot across the face of goal, Charles-Cook not far enough advanced to add a finishing touch from the left side of the box. With little change coming from St Johnstone's defence, manager Mackay withdrew Dominic Samuel and sent on Oli Shaw moments before the game's biggest talking point. Devine skilfully brought the ball down near the bye-line and was knocked over by Donaldson, who appealed in vain that his challenge did not constitute a foul. But it mattered little as McCann got under his shot to let Donaldson and County off the hook. St Johnstone were now in the ascendancy and Callum Davidson introduced Stevie May, Chris Kane and Liam Craig. And it almost paid off as Kane teed up May, whose shot was kept out by Ross Laidlaw and Craig slid in to smack the rebound off the outside of the left-hand post. May was off target with a last-minute header as both sides settled for a point. Given the penalty miss and the visitors' strong finish, County will be more grateful of the point than St Johnstone. The league season may only be one game old but this could be one of the most physical matches both teams face. Referee Colin Steven showed leniency in the early stages but eventually had to start yellow-carding offenders as robust challenges went in. And the rising free-kick count prevented the match building up any sort of momentum. Ross County manager Malky Mackay: "I'm delighted with the fact we actually kept a clean sheet, worked hard and got the result in the end. "It probably was a penalty. It would've been really harsh if the game had been decided by that. It was a very even game. A point each was probably the right result." St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson: "It's a hard one. First game of the season, you're always a little bit apprehensive over how it's going to turn out. "I was pleased with the second-half performance. The penalty miss, that's part of football. I thought it was a penalty. It's just unfortunate we didn't score it. It's just one of those things."
Ross County
Manager	Malcolm (Malky) Mackay
Starting 11	1: Ross Laidlaw, 2: Connor Randall, 7: Blair Spittal 1, 8: Ross Callachan, 10: Dominic Samuel 1, 15: Keith Watson, 16: Alexander Iacovitti, 17: Regan Charles-Cook, 22: Jordon Tillson, 25: Coll Donaldson 1, 26: Jordan White 1
Bench	21: Ross Munro, 6: Harrison Paton, 9: Oliver Shaw, 11: Alexander Robertson, 30: Matthew Wright, 33: Ben Williamson, 34: Ryan MacLeman
Saint Johnstone
Manager	Callum Davidson
Starting 11	Zander Clark, Jamie McCart, Jason Kerr, Liam Gordon, Reece Devine, Murray Davidson, David Wotherspoon, Alistair McCann 1, Shaun Rooney 1, Michael O'Halloran, Callum Hendry
Bench	James Brown, Stevie May, Christopher Kane, Elliot Parish, Hayden Muller, Cameron Ballantyne, Liam Craig