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Cove Rangers defender Scott Ross is hoping practice on the training pitch will pay off again in tomorrow’s cinch Championship clash with Morton at Cappielow Park.

The thirty one-year-old centre half was right at the heart of the corner set-piece that delivered the first goal in last weekend’s magnificent 2-0 victory over Raith Rovers at Balmoral Stadium.

It was payback for manager Jim McIntyre, who had the players working on a variety of well-planned moves in their final session ahead of the league opener.

That included Scott making the front post run which allowed him to flick on Fraser Fyvie’s cross, the ball then headed home by Mitch Megginson.

It was more of the same for the squad ahead of this weekend’s trip to Greenock, and Scott accepts that attention to detail could prove crucial in the club’s first campaign competing at Championship level.

“It’s always good when you see something you had just worked on in training come off,” said Scott, who also provided the through pass which ultimately led to skipper Mitch scoring the second against Raith.

“The manager had us work on that specific routine and we have a few others up our sleeve too.

“It will be harder for us to create scoring opportunities from open play now that we have stepped up a level.

“We are going to need to make the best of any set-pieces, and it’s encouraging we have shown we are capable of doing that.”

Scott admitted the players were delighted with the victory over Raith, which also put us to the top of the Championship table, although with thirty-five games still to play, nobody is getting too carried away by that.

“It was a great result, and I thought our performance was fantastic too,” said Scott.

“We could maybe have been a wee bit better on the ball at times, but we dug in when we had to.

“It’s something we knew we would need to do this season because we are going to be up against full-time players almost every week.

“It means you have to stay sharp because some of the guys we are likely face might be a little quicker than we are used to.

“To a man, we did that to earn the win against a very good Raith side.

“Playing a part in both goals was a bit of an added bonus for me, but I was far more pleased that we managed a clean sheet.”

With the defenders still getting accustomed to playing a back four, rather than the three at the back deployed in recent years, Scott believes keeping the opposition out will be massive for confidence:

“They are huge for defenders and it’s a real boost to have to recorded one in the club’s first match at this level.

“It’s good for our self-belief going into the next game, but we accept it’s going to be another very challenging one for us.

“It’s great that we go to Cappielow sitting on top of the table, but it’s going to be a long, hard, season.

“Every week is going to be a different test, up against opponents who maybe play in different styles.

“We’ve started it in the right manner though, and it’s a case of now going to Greenock, working as hard as we possibly can, and hoping that will be enough to earn us something from the game.”

Blair Yule will again miss out because of an ankle injury, but new signing Luis Longstaff is set to play some part in the match after training with the squad on Thursday evening.

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