Billy Mckay hopes his Ladbrokes Premiership player of the month award for February can boost his case for a recall to the Northern Ireland setup.
Mckay yesterday scooped last month’s prize after netting five goals in as many games, including doubles against Livingston and Aberdeen and a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw with St Johnstone.
The form, which followed a run of one goal in six months, has given Mckay fresh hope of a call-up to his national team squad for their Euro 2020 qualifying play-off away to Bosnia and Herzegovina later this month.
Should Michael O’Neill’s men progress they will host either Slovakia or Republic of Ireland for a place in this summer’s finals, and 11-times capped attacker Mckay is eager to be involved.
Mckay said: “There’s a play-off game coming up for the Euros.
“It would be great to put my name in the hat for that, but they have been doing really well.
“I’ve not had any contact recently, but I was on stand-by for the last few squads when I wasn’t on my best form in front of goal.
“Hopefully this puts me in his mind for it – if not I will keep working hard and try to get there.”
Mckay’s goalscoring exploits aided County’s form during February, helping the Dingwall side move five points clear of Hamilton Accies in the relegation play-off spot.
Former Caley Thistle forward Mckay was quick to credit his team-mates following the award, adding: “It was a good month for myself and also the club. More importantly we picked up seven points out of the four games, which is great.
“That’s the kind of form we want to be having. Normally when a player gets this, the team has had a good month. That’s the most important thing.
“It’s not just an individual award, I think the team was brilliant in February as well.
“For all my goals it was different people who assisted me, so without them I wouldn’t have got the award.”
County host Rangers in Premiership action tomorrow, with both sides looking to bounce back from defeats in midweek.
Mckay remains wary of the Ibrox outfit despite their shock 1-0 home loss to Hamilton Accies in midweek, and the 31-year-old added: “If we frustrate them for a while, their fans might get on their back a bit.
“It’s probably a good thing for them to get away from Ibrox and play away from home, it might be a positive.
“I watched the highlights of the Hamilton game and I don’t know how they haven’t won it, so I think they are still as dangerous as ever.
“They are still a very good team, but we’ve got to go into every game thinking we are going to win, otherwise there is no point in turning up.
“We will have a gameplan, and if we can implement it the right way and play our game I will always believe we’ve got a chance – especially with the players we’ve got.”
