Ross County must wait for party following cup triumph

Jim McIntyre will have his players in training to prepare for the Premiership game with St Johnstone in Perth on Wednesday night

Ross County players celebrate with the Scottish League Cup (Reuters)

Jim McIntyre, the Ross County manager, guided the club to their first major trophy with a 2-1 League Cup final win over Hibernian at Hampden Park yesterday then revealed the celebration party has been put on hold for a week.

The Staggies, who joined the Scottish Football League from the Highland League in 1994, won thanks to Alex Schalk’s last-gasp winner, after Michael Gardyne’s 25th-minute opener had been cancelled out by Hibs defender Liam Fontaine.

McIntyre, though, will have his players in at training at lunchtime today to prepare for the Premiership game with St Johnstone in Perth on Wednesday night – County are fourth – with the trophy win to be celebrated after the home game against Highlands rivals Inverness on Saturday.

He said: “We had a meeting about it and we will be in at lunchtime on Monday to prepare properly. It is too important. If we go on a party I know that a few players will not be ready, or in the right mental frame of mind for Wednesday night. Our plan is to do something next Saturday after the game.”

Schalk dedicated the win to the Ross supporters. “It’s not for me as an individual, or for anyone else as an individual. It’s for people who are Ross County fans all their lives,” said the Dutchman.

“You see people crying because we won the first cup in the history of Ross County. This win is for them.”

The Hibs manager, Alan Stubbs, described the result as “a big disappointment” but insisted defeat will not derail their bid to win the Scottish Cup and promotion from the Championship.