Ross County forward Alex Schalk is determined to take his team’s frustration out on Rangers following the Staggies’ 2-0 loss to Motherwell on Saturday.
County fell to a third straight defeat in all competitions, and the second against the Steelmen in 10 days, with the Fir Park side winning with second-half goals from Richard Tait and a Louis Moult penalty.
The Staggies will try to revive the campaign when they host Rangers on Sunday and, having been unbeaten against the Ibrox side last season, Schalk sees no reason to fear Pedro Caixinha’s men.
Schalk said: “It’s a very good game to bounce back and we need to. Losing two out of three is hard, especially after dominating the first 45 like that in an away game.
“It’s the perfect game and a nice Sunday afternoon to look forward to. Hopefully, we can keep our record against them going.”
Schalk missed a glorious chance to equalise Tait’s opener and said: “I just needed to put it in the back of the net. It’s pretty much the same as last week against Motherwell when I went through and scored. This time it went over the top.”
Fellow Dutchman Kenny van der Weg was sent off for taking down Well’s Moult inside the box which led to the attacker scoring the second goal from the spot.
“We dominated the first half and we should have been up. We didn’t really have the final pass but we were confident we would build on it in the second half,” added Schalk.
“They changed it to go man for man in the second half. They got a lucky goal that changed the game a bit but after that I got a huge opportunity to get us back in the game. It was a key moment I needed to take. After the red card it was damage limitation really.”
County captain Andrew Davies slipped in the build-up to Tait’s opening goal but Schalk apportioned no blame to the defender, who later went off with a hamstring injury, insisting the team must take collective responsibility for the result.
The 25-year-old added: “We’re all in it together. We tried to bail him out as forwards and, if I miss a chance, he’ll do the same for me. I don’t know what happened but they punished us. They were ruthless. He must be feeling bad but we’re all in it together.”
