Ross County co-manager Stuart Kettlewell feels the Staggies need no warning about the risk of complacency ahead of tomorrow’s Premiership visit of St Johnstone.
County go into the game on strong form, having taken seven points from their last three matches since the last international break.
Kettlewell is wary of getting carried away however, having seen a fine start to the campaign come to a crashing halt by a 4-1 home loss to Livingston in August.
Kettlewell is determined to avoid a repeat performance, and he said: “A clear message that will come from us is that we need to ward against that bit of complacency.
“We had two really good games against Hamilton and Hearts in our first two games, but we then had a terrible performance here against Livingston.
“We were caught in the hop, conceding goals we really wouldn’t associate with ourselves. It was certainly not the level of performance we would expect from our group.
“That message comes into this game as well.”
With County sitting fifth after seven Premiership games, Kettlewell feels the Dingwall side have learned there is less room for error in the top flight.
He added: “Without being disrespectful to the Championship, I think there were times last season when we were not at our very best, but we were able to scrape through games and come up with the odd goal that won us a game.
“But I think the Premiership will punish you for coming off your levels for periods of time during a game.
“We expect we will play against a good team, which has serious pedigree in the Premiership.
“They have got guys that have been over the course, and know how to get themselves out of a sticky situation. We will give that every respect.”
Midfielder Iain Vigurs remains sidelined with a foot problem, with the former Caley Thistle player to discover whether he will require an operation which kept him out for five months last season.
Kettlewell added: “There are likely to be one or two options. It will either be that he can continue just now, or there might have to be some sort of surgical procedure.
“We have got a specialist who is dealing with that. Iain will do something which will determine what way that goes.
“The process has been sped up. We will try and get him to do some form of physical activity, and if we still have the issue there I think there is going to have to be some sort of intervention to cure the problem.
“Otherwise we are going to find ourselves in this position over and over again.”
