Ross County defender Harry Souttar believes a break from action this weekend can recharge the Staggies for their survival run-in.
County are out of action due to the Scottish Cup semi-finals, with next Saturday’s home game against Motherwell the first of five games remaining in their bid to avoid relegation. The Dingwall men are a point above bottom side Partick Thistle.
The Staggies have enjoyed an improvement in form, taking four points from their last two games against Partick and Hibernian, however on-loan Stoke City player Souttar is confident momentum will not be disrupted, as he looks forward to enjoying downtime at his family home in Brechin.
Souttar said: “Some of the boys have niggling injuries, so it gives everyone a welcome rest – especially having had three games in eight days.
“Everyone towards the end of the Hibs game was feeling a little bit tired but that’s understandable when you’ve put in so much to three games.
“We had 10 men against Celtic and the Hibs game was probably the most high-intensity match I’ve played in.
“It is good to get a little bit of chill time and recover before we go into the biggest game of the season.”
Souttar was signed by previous manager Owen Coyle from the Potters in January, and although Souttar is not looking beyond the task of keeping County in the top-flight, the 19-year-old feels he is reaping the rewards of the move ahead of his return to the English Premier League club.
He added: “This experience is only going to benefit me, but I’m only caring about Ross County just now. I’ll sit back at the end of the season and look at how I’ve done, but I’m only concentrating on trying to get Ross County up the league.
“It has been totally different games for me to play in. One week it is Rangers or Celtic and then the next it is Partick Thistle where we’re trying to get in behind them.
“It is a massive learning curve for me, but it is only going to benefit me in the long run. I’m just going to draw every bit of experience I can from this loan.”