Attacker Michael Gardyne thinks the signs are there Ross County can retain their Premiership status.
County drew 2-2 with relegation rivals Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on Saturday to stay 10th in the top-flight, a point ahead of Killie. They also pulled three points ahead of rock-bottom Hamilton, following their 1-0 defeat to Dundee United.
Although the Staggies had to equalise twice in Ayrshire, conceding two poor early goals, it was a positive post-split afternoon, as they outplayed the home side for most of the encounter.
Gardyne, who netted County’s first leveller after just five minutes – his first top-flight goal since November 2017, said: “They always say in the split if you draw your away games and win your home games you’ll be alright, but I think we done enough to win the game, maybe sneak it.
“It was just one of those games with two teams who were a little bit nervous.
“We worked during the week on trying to get players in the pocket, players wide and get crosses into the box and it did work.
“We had plenty efforts off target and on target.
“We want to win every game, but we’ve gained a point because Hamilton got beat.
“We’re down to four games now, with the next game (St Mirren) nine or 10 days away and that’s at home, so that’ll be the focus from now.”
The 35-year-old, who has experienced both survival and relegation in his time with the Dingwall outfit, thinks the mood music is good for the rest of the post-split fixtures.
Gardyne revealed the County dressing room was unusually subdued before the clash with Killie, which he puts down to the squad being “focused and ready for the task ahead”.
Although the veteran knows there is no substitute for winning games at this point in the season, he added: “The way we played against Killie, there’s so many positives to take.
“The only negative is the two goals we’ve lost. They were cheap goals and we know we should be doing better than that.”
Despite breaking his long Premiership duck, Gardyne left Kilmarnock slightly disappointed he hadn’t scored one or two more, with a couple of good chances – including Harry Paton’s cutback at 2-2 – going begging.
Gardyne said: “I definitely should’ve had two at least.
“With the third one I tried to guide it with the side of my foot, but I should’ve just laced it.
“It would’ve been nice to get another goal and a win, but I’ve not scored for a while, so it’s nice personally.”
With Saturday’s game on a knife-edge at 2-2, there was a flashpoint when County skipper Iain Vigurs was forced off with what looked to be a broken nose, having been caught by home forward Kyle Lafferty’s arm.
Gardyne says the Staggies players think the Northern Irish striker should’ve seen red over the incident, but were also perplexed by referee Willie Collum’s actions in the aftermath.
The winger said: “He’s took a bit of a dunt. I don’t really understand it – it’s either nothing or it’s a red. I don’t know how you can get a booking for elbowing someone.
“I was on the left, the other side, but you could hear the slapping sound and he (Vigurs) is insistent it was a red, as are the lads who were round about it as well. The blood pouring from his face as well.
“You hope things like that don’t cost you. And it almost changed the game in their favour, because we went down to 10 men for five minutes, which gave them the momentum for that spell.”
