STEVE Evans made two changes to the side that drew 1-1 against Crystal Palace, handing a debut to new signing Jake Wright at left-back, while Brad Thomas partnered Chris Giles at centre-back.
Crawley stood firm against their Scottish First Division opponents in a game which mustered little in the way of goalmouth action.
Town's Jon-Paul Pittman looked to steal the advantage midway through the first half as he broke clear, only to see h
is effort blocked by the sliding challenge of Steven Watt - Lewis Killeen's follow up was charged down by Scott Boyd.
On 35 minutes County forward Dyron Daal was fouled 20 yards out, allowing Scott Morrison the free-kick, but Reds' 'keeper Simon Rayner pawed away the drive.
Daal was later subbed following an off-the-ball incident on Crawley's Brad Thomas - the County striker having appeared to elbow the defender.
The second half started with the usual flurry of substitutions, but still little change in the pattern of play as both sides cancelled each other out.
County's Steven Craig cut in from the left with an acute drive, but Rayner turned it round for a corner.
Craig was later stretchered off with a knee injury as the bumps and bruises began to show in this brutal encounter.
In the closing stages, County's Richard Brittain found the head of Richie Hart, but even with Rayner second best to the cross, Hart's header skimmed the side-netting.
Crawley almost stole the win, as Thomas Pinault's cross picked out Killeen, but County 'keeper Tony Bullock prevented the header squirming in at the post.
County boss Derek Adams said: "We didn't really create many chances today, but they never really looked like scoring.
"There wasn't a lot of football played, I knew it'd be a physical challenge and that's exactly what we got.
"There's a few knocks but it's nice to get another 90 minutes, it was a test of character as we'll get games like that against teams that sit in and use their physical presence so that was a good test.
Ross County – Bullock, Parra, Morrison (Golabek 54), Watt, Boyd (Keddie 54), Brittain, Hart, Higgins (Gardyne 54), Winters, Daal (Craig 38, McCulloch 71), Scott (Lawson 54).
Crawley Town – Rayner, Stevens, Wright, Thomas, Giles, Rents (Wilson 58), Bulman (Coop 62), Pittman (Cook 43), Forrest, Pinault, Killeen.REFEREE: Jason Hasson The full article contains 399 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
