Ross County manager Stuart Kettlewell has urged his players to embrace the challenge of a difficult stretch of games.
The Staggies meet Kilmarnock at Rugby Park tomorrow before next Sunday’s Betfred Cup tie against holders Celtic.
The Victoria Park side then host top of the table Rangers on December 6 before travelling to Aberdeen the following weekend.
It is a demanding run, but Kettlewell hopes facing some of the stronger sides in Scotland will bring the best out of his players.
He said: “You have to relish it.
“If we’re sitting here quaking in our boots then we shouldn’t be in the job.
“We want to be tested against the best – I know that’s a cliche, but we genuinely do.
“Sometimes people say that and I don’t think they actually mean it, they’re apprehensive of what’s to come.
“We’ve got a really difficult run coming up. Kilmarnock away, which is always difficult, then Rangers, Aberdeen and Celtic all in the mix.
“I’m going to learn more about some of these young players, how much they have come on and how far they can go.
“Even for myself, you pitch yourself against the best in the country and you find out what you’ve done right and what you’ve done wrong.
“There’s definitely no apprehension from us, we’ve got to go and embrace it.
“It will be difficult, nobody will expect us to do anything, but when you narrow it down to a cup game, we’ve got one crack at it at Celtic Park.
“We have to go into the game and have a real go and leave nothing behind.
“Sometimes that can work massively against you, but from my point of view you’re not looking at goal difference, you’re not looking at a league table, you’re just looking at a one-off game.
“It’s a chance to do something that will make people sit up and take notice.”
The Staggies are without a win in six league games, but head into tomorrow’s fixture at Rugby Park on the back of morale-boosting wins in the Betfred Cup.
Kettlewell’s side followed up last Tuesday’s 4-1 win at Elgin with a 3-0 victory against Stirling Albion on Saturday and the County boss hopes they can build on that momentum this weekend.
He added: “That has always been our intention – speaking about guys hitting the back of the net, keeping clean sheets and how you can take that forward.
“For me it’s about how we act on it on Saturday.
“We’re going up against a better side in the fact that Kilmarnock have had a couple of good years in the Premiership, and Rugby Park is a difficult venue to go to.
“We’ve certainly had a couple of good games, even looking back to the draw against Livingston before the two cup games, so the players have to be feeling good about themselves.
“You see how tight this league is as well. I’m a broken record saying it every week, but, if you can go and piece together a couple of results, you can really change the nature of how the league looks.
“You can go and progress up the way rather than worrying about what will happen.
“We’ve done well in the League Cup, so it’s important that we go and build on it now.”
