Ross County midfielder Jamie Lindsay is preparing for the most important game of his career when the bottom-of-the-table Staggies host Partick Thistle tonight.
County are three points adrift of tonight’s opponents ahead of the Victoria Park encounter, with the opportunity to move above the Jags on goal difference with a victory.
A defeat would leave the Dingwall outfit trailing in their bid to avoid relegation to the Championship however and on-loan Celtic midfielder Lindsay, who spent last season with Morton, is well aware of what is at stake.
Lindsay said: “It’s massive – probably the biggest game I’ve played in.
“I played a Betfred Cup semi-final against Aberdeen and in the play-offs last season at Morton but, for what we want to do, this will probably decide where we’re going to be.
“If we win, we go ahead of them and it brings others back into it as well. Then we have Hibs and the last five games in our own hands.
“If we can get the win, it is the confidence and belief instilled in the group that carries us on.
“It is a big game for Partick as well, but we’ll be ready. Hopefully we can get the three points.
“It is mad thinking about the importance. If we think too much, we could get caught up in it. We just need to forget about that and be ready to perform.”
Lindsay returns to the fold for the Staggies tonight, having been forced to sit out Saturday’s 3-0 defeat against his parent club at Parkhead.
The 22-year-old has not played since the 2-2 draw against Hamilton Accies on March 17, when he made a goalscoring return from a two-month knee injury lay-off.
Lindsay insists it has been a frustrating period but he reflects fondly on his time with the Staggies so far, despite the Highlanders’ whirlwind season.
He added: “Even before sitting out Celtic, I was injured. Ever since Christmas time it has been a bit of a nightmare in terms of my own involvement.
“I’ve enjoyed it here though, it has been really good.
“Obviously, it has been a mad season. If somebody said to me, before I came, you would have three sets of managers in a season, I’d have said ‘I don’t think so’.
“For me it is all part of learning. I just need to deal with it. The stop-start aspect hasn’t been great, but overall I’ve really enjoyed it. It has been good living up here and the boys are brilliant.
“Ross County is a great club. The hardships can only help me for the future. I’m still young and it’s experience.
“There are boys in the dressing room have played for 10 or 15 years and never experienced anything like it, with three different management teams.
“Hopefully, at the end of it, we can keep the club up and it will be a good end to the season.”
Lindsay says County must not dwell on their defeat to Celtic, and feels they can take belief from their showing in their last home outing against Accies, adding: “Obviously the Celtic game is hard and nobody expected us to win. It would have been brilliant to take something but they’re beating everybody.
“Even though we didn’t get three points against Hamilton, it was encouraging. The first half was probably one of the most enjoyable of the season, in terms of how we played and the chances we created.
“The main thing after the game was everybody recognised we could definitely do it – we have the players and squad. It gave us a wee bit more belief.”
