Ross County striker Alex Schalk is convinced the Staggies are edging closer to halting their long wait for a victory.
County had to settle for a 1-1 draw at home to St Johnstone in their latest outing on Wednesday, after failing to find a winning goal from a dominant second-half performance.
The result, which followed back-to-back defeats against Hamilton Accies and Hibernian, was enough to take County off the bottom of the Premiership above Partick Thistle on goal difference, but Owen Coyle’s men have now gone eight matches without a win.
Schalk took encouragement from the way his side ended against Saints though, and hopes County can pick up from where they left off in tomorrow’s crucial match away to Thistle.
Schalk said: “It is a real shame – we just keep being on the wrong side of the line.
“When you see a crazy moment like the one we did, with four attempts kept out within seconds, you just realise that’s the way it is going right now – but luck will change.
“If you watch the second-half, we have to feel confident our luck will change. There was plenty of good stuff.
“As the manager said after the game, if we play like we did in the second-half in every game we are going to pick up a lot more points than we have now.
“This is not the position we should be in. We take that into the Partick game, which is obviously massive as well.”
Dutchman Schalk, who netted his fifth goal of the season from the penalty spot against Tommy Wright’s side on Wednesday, says he has remained upbeat throughout his side’s struggles, with County’s last victory a 3-2 triumph over Motherwell on November 4.
Schalk added: “We have had a bad run, but we try to pick each other up every time. We stick together and that’s the main thing in these periods.
“We try not to be negative and have faith. That is sometimes easier said than done in the position we are in, but the second-half was really positive and it was incredible we didn’t win the game.”
Schalk knows the stakes are high at Firhill tomorrow, with both sides desperate to avoid signing off for the winter break at the bottom of the league.
The 25-year-old said: “It is massive. We need to take the good aspects from the St Johnstone match with us to Firhill.
“It will be a battle. We know the importance and don’t need to put any more pressure on the game than we need to.
“We go into the game with the St Johnstone second half in mind and look for an early goal ourselves hopefully.”
