Ross County defender Coll Donaldson is focused on the Staggies’ important upcoming league business before he looks forward to a possible Highland derby encounter with Caley Thistle.
County have been paired at home to the winner of the tie between Buckie Thistle and Inverness, which has been put on hold after the Scottish Cup was suspended until at least February due to Covid-19.
Should Caley Jags advance, it will set up an intriguing derby fixture which will see Donaldson come up against his former club for the first time since leaving Caledonian Stadium to join the Staggies last January.
County manager John Hughes, along with skipper Iain Vigurs, Carl Tremarco, Billy Mckay and Ross Draper would also be in line to face their former club.
The Staggies are a point adrift at the bottom of the Premiership, with league matches against Aberdeen, Rangers and Motherwell before the end of the month, and Donaldson insists they cannot afforded to be distracted from their task of securing survival.
Donaldson said: “I saw the draw on the morning of the Livingston game.
“We will deal with that when we do. We have big league games coming up, with Aberdeen at home next. We need to try and rectify our home form quickly.
“We’ve got to try and pick something up from every single game in the league just now, even the Old Firm games.
“That’s a game we will look forward to when it comes around, but our main focus is on the league.”
The Staggies were defeated 3-1 by Livingston at Almondvale on Sunday, with the Lions netting two goals inside the final 10 minutes to claim full points.
Donaldson felt the result was harsh on his side but he insists the Staggies have no time to feel sorry for themselves.
The 25-year-old added: “You don’t want to be blowing smoke up your backside after a defeat. We need to look at it as it is.
“It’s a defeat, and another disappointing weekend for us.
“We’ve got another week to prepare for the next game. We can’t just keep saying we played well, but came away with nothing.
“I would rather play bad and win the game, so we need to start putting some results together and quite quickly.
“It’s disappointing, especially after all we put into the game. We’re bitterly disappointed with the way the game ended.
“I have to give it to Livingston, they do what they do and they won the game.
“That’s what the manager is trying to instil. The bare minimum is we work as hard as we can and put everything in to try and win a football game.
“That’s what we are trying to do just now. I feel like we are not far away. If we play like that more often than not we will come away with positive results.”
Donaldson has been reunited with Staggies boss Hughes, who replaced Stuart Kettlewell last month, with the pair having worked together when they were at Livingston.
Donaldson credits Hughes with being an influential presence at a young age, prior to him winning a move to Queens Park Rangers in 2014.
Donaldson feels Hughes’ personality is starting to show on the Staggies, and he added: “There has been a slight improvement.
“Everyone has a wee uplift when a new manager comes in. I don’t know what the reason is, it just seems to happen across football.
“The manager’s ideas have been brilliant, the boys are reacting well to his words, the way he’s wanting us to work and train.
“He’s extremely passionate. He demands very high standards, which is not to say other managers didn’t, but he drills you every day.
“He speaks to you, he wants to know about you and I really enjoyed working under him at Livi.
“I’m enjoying working for him again so far, but we need to get results for him, for the club and for ourselves.
“We’ve got a good manager, good players and we are doing all right but we need to start winning football games.”
