'Scottish Championship offers chance of rebirth for Ross County & St Johnstone'

With both Ross County and St Johnstone suffering top-flight relegation last term, Friday's encounter between the pair is being billed as a clash of the Championship titans - but neither club really see it that way.

A Highland vantage point gives County a unique perspective when it comes to the upper echelons of Scottish football.

They may have spent the past six years in the top flight, but that is the blink of an eye in the historical context of the game in Scotland.

Remember, this is a club who have only been competing in the national leagues for 30 years, geographical outsiders in a SPFL landscape dominated by the nation's central belt.

Saints, meanwhile, ended a 16-year stay in the top flight after experiencing some incredible highs along the way, winning the Scottish Cup twice, winning the League Cup and going head-to-head with Turkish giants Galatasaray in Europe.

Both clubs boast fanbases wholly comparable in number with the likes of Partick Thistle, Ayr United, Raith Rovers and Dunfermline Athletic.

Therefore, the pair of them look at the Championship as a sea of sharks this season, all capable of taking chunks out of each other.

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