Eli Campbell Praised as Ross County’s Defense Strengthens

Ross County manager Don Cowie has affirmed his team’s defensive improvements, specifically commending Everton loanee Eli Campbell. This praise follows Campbell’s recent call-up to England’s Under-20s, in addition to his selection for England’s Elite squad last month. Ross County currently ranks seventh in the goals conceded standings with 18 goals, and their two most recent matches concluded in goalless draws. Cowie stated, “We spoke about being better defensively – and if you look at the goals against, they’ve really only come in a couple of games rather than over a period of 12 matches – which shows the improvement that we’ve had.” He added, “The [last] two games highlighted that, two really solid defensive displays – albeit without getting the goals to get three points.” A significant concern for County remains their challenging away record, having not secured a victory on the road in 22 matches. Cowie further commented, “Until we break that [record], I’m always going to get asked the question and rightly so. It doesn’t mean we go into any away game not trying to win it – I think on Saturday you could see that.” He concluded, “If we keep giving ourselves the best opportunity one of these days we will fall on the right side of it away from home – and that can give the group real belief.” Separately, Campbell received additional commendation after returning to his customary centre-back role for the draw against St Mirren, having previously played as a left wing-back. Cowie remarked, “He’s done brilliantly.” He continued, “You forget how young and inexperienced he is in terms of first-team football, but he’s been a breath of fresh air in terms of how he conducts himself and trains.” Cowie concluded his comments on Campbell by saying, “I don’t think it matters which position I play him in – he will do the best he can and once again on Saturday he illustrated that.”