Ross County midfielder Martin Woods has told his team-mates to stop feeling sorry for themselves and get their top-six push back on track.
The Staggies beat Caley Thistle in the Highland derby on Hogmanay to move into the top six. Since returning to league duty in 2017 they have yet to win a game.
Chris Kane’s added-time winner gave St Johnstone all three points at Dingwall on Saturday to leave County in ninth place in the Scottish Premiership.
The Staggies have taken one point from a possible 12 so far in 2017 and Woods, pictured, knows the alarming run of form has to change quickly.
He said: “We’ve all got to take responsibility and do better. We have to put an end to all of this now and get back to winning matches.
“We’ve been lacking quality in terms of the final ball and some of the goals we’ve lost lately have been sloppy. There’s no lack of effort but the quality just hasn’t been there and we need it sorted.”
The worrying trend for the Staggies since returning from the winter breaks has been the habit of conceding the first goal. The 1-1 draw at Rangers is the only time Jim McIntyre’s side has scored the first goal in a league game this year, but Woods believes every department needs to improve.
He said: “It would be good to get the first goal in a game as it breeds confidence. We saw that at Ibrox where we scored first and started passing the ball around after it.
“It’s disappointing as scoring first would allow us to kick on, but it seems as if we are always giving ourselves an uphill task to try to come back. It’s really hard in this league and St Johnstone are one of the best teams in terms of being organised and disciplined.
“It’s so frustrating as we wanted to kick on and to lose another game at home is really disappointing.
“We have to take responsibility, be better in the final third by giving the players up front better service.
“The work-rate is there but we’re better than we’ve shown.”
