Ross County forward Ross Stewart has urged the Staggies not to get carried away in their pursuit of a Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden.
County will take on Highland rivals Inverness in a last-16 replay at Caledonian Stadium next Tuesday after the sides drew 2-2 at Dingwall on Monday.
Should the Staggies progress, their reward will be an all-Championship quarter-final tie away to Dundee United, but Stewart is wary of looking too far ahead as County dream of a first national stadium outing since their League Cup final victory over Hibernian in 2016.
Stewart said: “With it being another team from our league, hopefully we can get through. But we don’t want to look too far ahead as it is going to be a really tough replay against Inverness.
“Looking at where teams left in the Scottish Cup rank, Dundee United is not a bad draw, but they will probably feel the same at home to us or Inverness.
“It will be another good advert for the Championship, with one team in the semi-final now regardless of what happens. We certainly want to be there for a game at Hampden.”
Stewart netted to make it 1-1 within 60 seconds of being introduced as a substitute against Inverness on Monday and, having netted the winner in the previous Highland derby in December, the 22-year-old hopes his derby scoring habit continues.
He added: “The manager just told me to go on and bring energy to the game – get myself a goal.
“Being a striker, you’re always trying to get yourself into the box and Midge has put in a great ball.Let’s hope my own derby impact continues. That’s obviously twice in a row I’ve scored in them.
“You always want to play but we’ve got a really strong squad here and, whatever team the managers go with in the replay, every player will be right behind it.”
County’s focus switches to Friday’s IRN-BRU Cup semi-final tie at home to East Fife, with the Staggies aiming to set up a final against Welsh side Connah’s Quay Nomads or League 2 side Edinburgh City.
Former St Mirren player Stewart added: “The games are coming thick and fast. It’s a tough schedule but that’s why we have a squad of such depth here.
“We have really good quality that can come off the bench and change games – like on Monday.
“I’m sure the managers will be using everybody with all the midweek fixtures coming up. We just have to meet the challenge head-on. We’ll look to win as many as we can.”
