Nick Montgomery warns Derek Adams blast at SPFL standards might turn players OFF signing for Ross County

Nick Montgomery reckons Derek Adams might have scored a huge own goal with his stinging attack on the quality of Scottish football ahead of the January transfer window.

The Hibs boss takes his side to Dingwall to face Adams’ Ross County on Saturday - a week after the Staggies boss launched his incredible rant about the “shocking” standard of the Premiership. Montgomery doesn’t share his counterpart’s opinion that the game north of the border is “rubbish”.

But when asked if his comments would make tempting players to come to Scotland more difficult the Hibs manager claimed it might only scupper Adams’ own plans to attract better quality. He said: “I don’t think so. You only have to look at the teams in this league who are playing in the Champions League and in European competition.

“I don’t think players will look at those comments unless maybe they were being approached to sign for Derek at Ross County. Maybe that’s not somewhere you would want to go after hearing that.

“But there’s some very good clubs in the league and there’s a lot of players who would definitely want to come and play in Scotland. It’s not an easy league to play in. You have to be physically capable to start with. But it’s a great pathway, a development pathway to go on to the biggest leagues in the world which has been proven time and again.”

Adams launched his tirade after Ross County were beaten by an injury time goal against Dundee last weekend. He claimed the Morecambe side he left in League 2 to take over in Dingwall last month was “100 times better than this – 100 times.”

Montgomery reckons emotion got the better of the Staggies boss. But he said: “It’s not something I can agree with. I think the standard is very good. You only have to look at