Ross County manager Jim McIntyre reckons reports of his side’s demise have been exaggerated.
The Staggies take on second-placed Rangers at Victoria Park tomorrow, hoping to end a poor run of nine matches without a victory.
With just two wins from their opening 12 games, County occupy the relegation play-off position and are just a point ahead of bottom-placed Dundee.
McIntyre believes his side’s struggles have only started in recent weeks, and he said: “The fixtures have been difficult, there’s no doubt about it. But pundits like to throw stats around and say we’ve had such a poor start to the season.
“We’ve actually had a poor last five games. After our first seven games we had taken nine points and were in the top six. That’s a decent start.
“In the last five we have let ourselves down. We’ve conceded four goals in three of them. That’s where we need to show we are better.
“There have been a lot of good performances this season, but we do have to improve. When we lose games heavily we need to analyse. We are not trying to disguise the fact it’s not been good enough of late.
“We have to take it on the chin, but we have certainly not been as bad as some people have made out.
“That’s what I have been telling the players because we have got good players here.”
The task of facing Rangers does not daunt McIntyre, and following a creditable 0-0 draw against the Gers at Ibrox in September he hopes his side can show more attacking ability against the Glasgow outfit at home.
He added: “I was really pleased with our defending at Ibrox but it’s about getting the balance right. We didn’t threaten as much as we wanted.
“These are the games we want to play in. As a manager I want to test myself against the best and it’s no different for the players.
“We need to embrace this game, show we can handle playing at home in front of a full house against the biggest clubs in this league.”
