Ross County defender Stelios Demetriou has called for a show of resilience when the Staggies face Falkirk in the Championship on Saturday.
County suffered their first league defeat of the season when they went down 2-1 against Morton at Cappielow last weekend, leaving the Dingwall men in fourth place after three games.
Cypriot full back Demetriou, who was part of a St Mirren side that won the title last season, insists slip ups are inevitable in a competitive second-tier, but he says his side must show a bullish response when they take on the managerless Bairns, who sacked boss Paul Hartley on Monday having failed to register a point so far.
Demetriou said: “The important thing is the reaction after a bad result. That’s when a team shows their personality to bounce back.
“All the boys we have in this team have been in bad results before. There’s nobody here that has not got experience of going down and coming back up.
“All the teams are going to drop points, it’s a long season and I think we have performed really well.
“Even in our Betfred Cup game against Hibs, it was a Premiership side playing in Europe we were up against. I think we have shown we can compete with any team, not only in the Championship, but even teams from a higher division.
“We will just keep working this week, wait for the weekend and see how it goes on the park.”
County are ranked among the favourites for promotion this term, and Demetriou says they must show they can grind out results, with the 27-year-old adding: “We all know about the physical part of Scottish football. There are some places where you come up against opponents that don’t try to play.
“You have to go with their way, but you can still try to put your part in it.
“I wouldn’t say we are not a big team. We know how to bully teams too. It was just an unlucky result against Morton. We are ready for the physical part too.”
Demetriou could be in contention for his County league debut at Victoria Park this weekend, with the defender close to recovering from an ankle injury at a time when co-managers Stuart Kettlewell and Steven Ferguson are short on full back options.
He added: “I’m nearly done with my recovery, I have been training with the team this week.
“I just need to wait for my opportunity. The lads have done really well, we have a good squad and there’s competition in every position.
“That’s what a team that has our targets in the league needs.”