Ross County manager Jim McIntyre is refusing to be scarred by his side’s 4-0 defeat last time out against tonight’s opponents Celtic.
The defeat, in Dingwall on October 26, was one of four the Staggies suffered during the month which ended with the Highlanders just a point above the bottom of the table.
McIntyre felt his side held its own until the latter stages of the Victoria Park defeat, however, and he believes an improvement in form which has taken his side to sixth in the table, means his men will be ready to face Brendan Rodgers’ side at Parkhead tonight.
He said: “We played really well that night, and I took it on the chin as I made a change with 11 minutes to go and we lost three late goals.
“That can happen sometimes. We were well in the game and we had created opportunities.
“Hopefully we can do the same again with a different result.
“We need to be on top of our game. Nothing changes when we go to Parkhead, we need to perform really well.
“Celtic are flying at the moment and playing with a lot of confidence.
“They’ve got a great trust in what they’re doing, but we’ve done well against the leading sides this season.
“We’ve not always got the results some of our play has deserved, but we will go there with confidence and try to win.
“We’ve got to try to get the balance between being hard to break down – because we’re aware of Celtic’s threat – but also make sure we’re offering a threat ourselves.”
Defender Kenny van der Weg will serve the final match of a two-game suspension, while midfielder Michael Gardyne is out with a hamstring injury and midfielder Chris Burke and defender Erik Cikos are sidelined through illness.
McIntyre has promoted youngsters Chris McLaughlin and Reghan Tumilty to the first-team, with McLaughlin coming off the bench and impressing in Friday’s 3-1 loss against Partick Thistle.
The Staggies manager added: “They’ve been doing well in the under-20s.
“Chris did well when he came on against Partick. Midfielder is not his natural position – he’s a full back – but we just felt we needed more crosses into the box and he did well.”
