Ross County manager Stuart Kettlewell was delighted with how dominant his side appeared in their 4-0 win over Airdrieonians.

The two teams had locked horns on several occasions in a bid to avoid relegation from the Championship last season, with Airdrie winning 4-0 the last time they travelled north to Dingwall.

However, the Staggies made them pay this time around as Brian Graham led the way with a hat-trick and Richard Chin complementing his captain with a first-time finish on the cusp of half time.

Truth be told, County were never particularly threatened after they took the lead, and that measure of control was one of the most pleasing aspects of the win for Kettlewell.

"Airdrie came here off the back of decent form, and they're another full time team who finished above us last year,” he said.

"From our point of view, to run out 4-0 winners as comfortably as it ended up is great for us, and we could have added to that in the second half.

“We had to work for it, but our goalie didn't make a save in the game, there wasn't a shot all game which shows how we're functioning across our backline.

"You don't get to pick and choose your moments to play football or not, because at some point that will come back and bite you.

"We have strong substitutions and we changed our shape a wee bit, but we didn't come off it.

"We could have had another couple of goals we were so dominant – Akil Wright blazes one over, Jack Turner and Luke McCarvel both had good opportunities, and we had good crosses nobody got on the end of.

"We came here to win and get the clean sheet, and we managed to do that in dominant fashion."

Graham’s record now stands at more than a goal per game in League One this season, and he is on 18 goals across all competitions.

Kettlewell has previously spoken of how much of a role model the forward can be, and that goes for his attitude and work rate as much as it is any technique on the pitch.

"What you guys don't see is that Brian doesn't miss sessions because of his age,” Kettlewell added.

"He comes here to get across the same workload that everybody else has, and more, and we always believed he could be a really good influence on and off the pitch.

"Brian will be the first one to tell you that the service he gets coming into the box is top drawer. Richard Chin, Luke McCarvel and Lewis Strapp today provided opportunities for our strikers and midfield, and that's an absolute must.

"Brian can get through a lot of work, but we need to have quality to get him into the right positions.

"He took a knock in the first half but wantedto stay on, and that's an example to young players. If you take a bang, it will be sore, but give it a minute and you'll be alright.

"In modern times every knock and every bit of pain makes some people want to come off the pitch, but he had the mindset to stay on and get himself a hat-trick, which he did."