- Queen’s Park have won one and lost none of their last two home matches (1 win, 1 draw), while Ross County have failed to win any of their last three away (1 draw, 2 defeats).
- Ross County’s recent form has been poor (3 defeats, 2 draws from their last five) and they were beaten 1-0 by Queen’s Park in the Championship just seven weeks ago.
- Queen’s Park are more solid in the league (7th, 36pts from 31 games) than Ross County (10th, 28pts from 32 games).
Spiders can deliver low-scoring home victory
Queen’s Park will be hopeful of maintaining their recent good form at home when they host Ross County in the Championship on Friday and the odds for a home win look good enough to take on this week’s encounter. Sean Crighton has done an excellent job since taking charge as Spiders’ boss in May 2025 and, despite the club being in a mid-table position, his side have shown greater stability than Ross County this season.
Ross County’s manager Stuart Kettlewell has also done well since arriving at Victoria Park in December 2025 and his early job has been to steady the ship of a side that was rocked by relegation and managerial change in 2025. However, County have lost some momentum in recent weeks (3 defeats, 2 draws from last five) that has seen Airdrieonians run away with them at home (4-0) and Partick Thistle do the same away (3-1).
The visitors may have been in poor form, but Queen’s Park have been inconsistent recently with two wins, two draws and one defeat from their last five - although they did beat Ross County 1-0 in the corresponding fixture. Crighton’s men drew 1-1 at home to Ayr United in their most recent home game and 1-1 at St. Johnstone on Tuesday, so the form does not favour either side going into Friday’s clash.
Crighton’s flexible system should see Spiders through
What makes this fixture of more interest than it would be at other points in the season is the clash of styles between the two clubs. Queen’s Park have played with a more rigid structure under Crighton’s command, who is happy to sit deep and defend in phases before using the width of the pitch to transition quickly and play at a higher tempo.
Ross County’s system is less flexible and more direct in its approach - they like to get the ball down and play a physical game, although they are not always disciplined enough to stick to their transition patterns. Kettlewell has had to switch his players around in recent games due to the team’s unsettled nature and that could play into Crighton’s hands on Friday as the hosts will look to dominate the game’s phases and limit the visitors’ attacking threat.
Queen’s Park have recorded four wins, seven draws and four defeats at home in the Championship this season, conceding just over a goal per game. Ross County’s away record of two wins, seven draws and seven defeats in the Championship is not great and they have shipped 25 goals in 16 away games, which suggests a home victory is possible here.
Both teams unlikely to score
Ross County’s Kieran Phillips has been a rare bright spot for County recently, scoring two of their last three goals, but Queen’s Park’s Euan Murray is the biggest goal threat of the two sides with four Championship goals in 27 appearances this campaign. Backing both teams not to score at 17/20 looks a good play for this fixture, which should be low-scoring with under 2.5 goals at 7/10 also looking a safe play.
Our preference is for a solid home win at 2/1, which will be enough for Queen’s Park to keep up the good work of their new manager while Ross County will have to regroup following their latest relegation.
