Ross County midfielder Ross Draper is determined to make home advantage count despite the absence of supporters at Victoria Park.
County are unbeaten in two home matches so far, with Wednesday’s 2-2 draw against Kilmarnock following up an opening day 1-0 triumph over Motherwell.
The Staggies are looking to extend that run when they host Dundee United tomorrow, and despite lacking the usual backing from the home crowd Englishman Draper is eager to generate momentum at Dingwall.
Draper said: “We want to win all our home games and make this as hard a place as possible for teams to come.
“We played down at Parkhead in pre-season and it was dead, which was probably where we saw the difference.
“With all due respect, it’s maybe not as big a difference for teams like ourselves. Maybe we will use that to our advantage in any small percentages we can.
“We started well at home with the Motherwell result, and keeping an unbeaten run is important to us.”
County’s draw against Killie preserved their unbeaten start to the season, with the Staggies’ haul of seven points from their opening three matches marking their best start to a Premiership campaign.
Although County had led through Draper’s first half header, the Staggies were forced to dig deep for a point through Ross Stewart’s late penalty after falling behind.
Draper feels the result keeps County’s momentum going ahead of United’s visit tomorrow, with the 31-year-old adding: “We are disappointed to come away with a point against Kilmarnock but sometimes we have to realise that come the end of the season that might be a good point.
“We could easily have won the game, but possibly could have lost it.
“We take the point and the positives, and we realise it is a good start. It is only a start though, we have to go again against Dundee United on Saturday.
“They have had a bag of mixed results, so they will come here wanting to bounce back and get the win.
“We will do everything we can to try and win the game.”
Draper was thrilled to hit the net for the first time since April 2018, with the former Caley Thistle player determined to add to his tally.
He added: “The last goal was against Partick at home in the Premiership. I went through a whole Championship campaign and another Premiership campaign without scoring.
“It’s a long time. I love scoring – I can’t do it enough. I haven’t done it enough and I want to try and add it to my game like a lot of boys do.
“It’s important for us to chip in. We can’t rely on the boys up top to score 15 to 20 goals each and carry us to some extent.
“We have to chip in with goals from midfield and defence, and also contribute to keeping clean sheets.”
