The pressure is building as Ross County fight to stay in the Premiership but striker Billy Mckay believes today’s opponents Kilmarnock would gladly swap places with the Staggies.
Just one point separates the 10th and 11th-placed sides in the division, but County can put themselves firmly in control if they beat Killie at Rugby Park today.
The players at County are well aware of the magnitude of this game and Mckay is eager to pile the pressure on Tommy Wright’s side by picking up what would be a vital three points.
He said: “We have played against Tommy Wright’s teams a lot over the years, at St Johnstone they were always very hard to beat.
“They have turned the corner a bit lately so it’s likely to be tight.
“You would rather be in our position than theirs, it’s about what we do and if we can put in the right performances and results we’ll be fine.
“You have to enjoy it, embrace the challenge and not be scared of it – if you are it will get you nowhere.
“We are excited about the challenge of it now, we can’t wait for the game to come around.
“Every situation is different, when I look at ours right now everyone is pushing in the right direction and has the belief we’ll be safe.
“When you believe that you’re capable of doing it then it makes it easier.”
Mckay could have been vying for promotion with Caley Thistle instead of trying to fire County to safety after his former club showed an interest in signing him in January.
The Northern Ireland international did consider moving on after losing his place in the side, but manager John Hughes insisted he still had a role to play.
Mckay said: “I’m not sure how close it came. If I’m honest I did have thoughts of leaving because my game time was so low, but there was absolutely no chance of it happening as the manager dismissed it quite early.
“He said no every time as he felt I had a part to play and he has been proven right as I’m playing and scoring. It didn’t come as close as people think, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t cross my mind.
“When you are not playing for a couple of weeks, you never see yourself getting back in the team, but the manager assured me I would and I have had the chance.”
Mckay stays for now, but whether he will be at County after the summer will be shaped by what division the Staggies are playing in next season.
He said: “I’m out of contract in the summer. As a player I want to play at the highest level I can. There are no discussions going on here at the minute because of where we are in the league and we don’t know what division we will be in.
“I’m just focusing on the football just now, scoring goals and trying to win games. We’ll see what happens come the end of the season.
“It has taken me a while to get in the team and have had to be patient. Hopefully now I have showed that I can still score goals like I did before. That’s all I want to do, score the goals to help the team achieve what we want to do.”
