Don Cowie rewarded with Ross County job after Staggies survival as Roy MacGregor reveals mistake he made over boss

Don Cowie is set to become permanent manager of Ross County after securing the Staggies’ top flight survival with a play-off victory over Raith Rovers.

The interim boss will sit down with chairman Roy MacGregor to put the finishing touches to a deal that will see him take on the top job 24 years after breaking through as a player in Dingwall. Cowie stepped into the breach after Derek Adams walked in February with Malky Mackay having been sacked three months earlier.

The 40-year-old steadied the ship for the final 17 games, culminating in yesterday’s 4-0 play-off second leg win over Raith Rovers that secured a 6-1 aggregate victory. Cowie revealed he agreed to delay talks with club bosses over becoming the next manager until after safety was secured.

And he said: “What was said was that the chairman saw me as the person to take this club forward. We were aligned in not thinking that needed to be the focus, because we didn’t need any distractions. Our main focus was on keeping this club in the Premiership.

“You have to have a chat and see how things look. The chairman has shown a lot of belief in me, and he has stated that he sees me being the person to take the club forward. At any club you need to have a bigger conversation about how that looks going forward, and we’ll have that.

“I’ve said all along that I want to be a manager, and I felt I was ready three months ago. Since then that belief I have in myself has only strengthened, and this is a club I have a lot of affection for, so I don’t see any issues there.”

Ensuring County don’t end up in the same situation for a third year running will be Cowie’s main focus next season. That begins with a summer rebuild of his squad.

And he said: “We understand the fight that we