Ross County manager Jim McIntyre has told his players to not be distracted by Motherwell’s managerial problems.
The Steelmen have been without a manager since Stuart McCall’s resignation at the beginning of last month, with Kenny Black acting as caretaker.
The Lanarkshire club is close to naming McCall’s successor, with Black and former Kilmarnock manager Kenny Shiels in the running along with former Sligo Rovers manager Ian Baraclough and Dutch duo Mitchell van der Gaag and Rob Maaskant, who both played for Well.
But McIntyre is trying to focus on what happens on the pitch when his side travels to Fir Park tomorrow and said: “They’ve still got the same players regardless, and they’ve got good players.
“It hasn’t happened for them this season so far but I do think the nucleus of the squad is there for Motherwell although they’ve also lost key players and it’s hard to keep replacing them.
“They have had a difficult start to the season. Sometimes when you get on a run like that without momentum it can become difficult.
“They’ve had a fabulous couple of seasons. I was as surprised as anybody when Stuart McCall left. He did a great job. But we had them watched last week and the week before and they did well in spells. They showed they are still a threat.”
County are bottom of the table on goal difference, but a win tomorrow would lift them a point above Motherwell.
The Steelmen were 2-1 winners the last time the sides met – in McIntyre’s first game in charge of the Staggies in September – and the former Queen of the South manager expects another close game.
McIntyre added: “We’ve got to start the game well and make sure we’re on the front foot. We need to concentrate on what we do well and make sure we take the game to them.
“The game up here last time was very close and I expect it to be similar down there. The three clubs at the bottom – St Mirren, Motherwell and ourselves – all need to put a run together.”