Date	Saturday, 22 August 2020
Competition	Scottish Premiership
Fixture/Score	Saint Mirren 1:1 Ross County
Venue	Saint Mirren Park
Attendance
Referee	Mike Roncone
Comments	Match Report Report by Nick McPheat for the BBC. Played Behind Closed Doors Saint Mirren 1 Ross County 1 Ross County manager Stuart Kettlewell believes his player Ross Stewart was millimetres away from a broken leg in their draw with St Mirren. Joe Shaughnessy was sent off for the incident eight minutes before County equalised, cancelling out Jonathan Obika's first-half opener. The game turned following the dismissal and the County boss feels the Irish defender can have no complaints. "I've been sent off for a lot less," said Kettlewell. "For me, I genuinely believe Ross Stewart is exceptionally lucky to keep playing in the game." The point the Highlanders secured takes their tally for the season to eight points from five games, a club record in the top flight, leaving them third in the table. Meanwhile, St Mirren sit sixth with seven points, having played a game fewer. Ross County manager Stuart Kettlewell believes his player Ross Stewart was millimetres away from a broken leg in their draw with St Mirren. Joe Shaughnessy was sent off for the incident eight minutes before County equalised, cancelling out Jonathan Obika's first-half opener. The game turned following the dismissal and the County boss feels the Irish defender can have no complaints. "I've been sent off for a lot less," said Kettlewell. "For me, I genuinely believe Ross Stewart is exceptionally lucky to keep playing in the game." The point the Highlanders secured takes their tally for the season to eight points from five games, a club record in the top flight, leaving them third in the table. Meanwhile, St Mirren sit sixth with seven points, having played a game fewer. Having played against 10 men for the last half hour of the game, Kettlewell will feel like it may be two points dropped. However, the point gained means he has guided County to their best start of a top tier season after five games, registering eight points and bettering last season's record of seven. As for St Mirren, despite surrendering a 1-0 lead, Goodwin will be happy with the resolute character his side demonstrated to gain a point having played a third of the game one man down. It stretches the Paisley side's unbeaten home run to seven games, winning three and drawing four of those while conceding just two goals. St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin: "I saw it as a good, honest, full-blooded tackle. I think Joe wins the ball and the referee has certainly played on. My understanding was it was the fourth official's call. "I thought the reaction of the Ross County player was a wee bit over the top, if I'm being honest. I was fully expecting the stretcher to be on and you fear the worst for the player but the fact he's able to play on and finish off the game suggests that Joe didn't catch him all that badly." Ross County manager Stuart Kettlewell: "First half I didn't feel we were at the races. We conceded a sloppy goal from our point of view but we got a better response second half. "We now need to look forward and if our opponent goes down to 10 men, how can we start to be a bit more creative and speed up our play."
Ross County
Manager	Stuart (Ketts) Kettlewell
Starting 11	1: Ross Laidlaw, 2: Connor Randall, 6: Ross Draper, 7: Michael Gardyne, 9: Billy Mckay, 11: Iain Vigurs 1, 16: Alexander Iacovitti, 24: Harrison Paton, 25: Coll Donaldson, 27: Ross Stewart, 43: Josh Reid 1
Bench	21: Ross Doohan, 3: Carl Tremarco, 8: Oliver Shaw, 14: Joshua Mullin, 15: Keith Watson, 17: Regan Charles-Cook, 18: Stephen Kelly, 22: Jordon Tillson, 24: Blair Spittal
Saint Mirren
Manager	Jim Goodwin
Starting 11	Jak Alnwick, Richard Tait, Joe Shaughnessy 1, Conor McCarthy, Nathan Sheron 1, Jon Obika 1, Kyle McAllister, Sam Foley, Jamie McGrath, Junior Morias, Marcus Fraser
Bench	Cameron Macpherson, Jack Baird, Kristian Dennis, Ethan Erhahon, Dean Lyness, Peter Urminsky, Jay Henderson, Lewis Jamieson, Joshua Jack