Ross County manager Malky Mackay insists it is too early in the season for him to be concerned about the prospect of being cut adrift at the foot of the Premiership.
The Staggies face Dundee in a crucial match at Dens Park on Wednesday, with the 11th-placed Dark Blues four points ahead of the Dingwall men, who are searching for their first win of the campaign.
A home victory will further extend that gap, however, Mackay insists there is still plenty football to be played regardless of the outcome on Tayside.
Mackay said: “There are 84 points still to go for. It’s one more game that we need to make sure we take points from.
“I look at it in terms of performances and how close games are. If that’s what we continue to look at, it’s not as if there have been games where we have been beaten by five or six goals.
“There haven’t really been any games where I’ve felt we were awful and the opposition were miles ahead.
“Genuinely, even through the Old Firm games, I don’t see that in any of the games we have played.
“I will be as objective as possible with our team on that.”
Despite failing to record a win from their 10 opening fixtures, Mackay says a quickfire succession of strong results can soon turn things around.
He added: “I was talking to David Martindale at Livingston and within two weeks he has gone from having similar conversations, to two wins and six points.
“All of a sudden it jumps you back in. I look back at that first tranche of games, and in some of them we were within minutes of the win.
“Especially in the last four, we have looked like the team that is going to go on and win.
“A couple of wins from that and we would be in among everything. The conversation wouldn’t come from: ‘when are you going to get your first win?’
“That’s OK, that’s the way the conversation should be given to me.
“As far as the players are concerned, it’s really about helping them with the belief and the preparation to go and play the next game.
“I tell them to look at the standard they are playing at, the chances they are creating and the dominance they have had in periods over certain parts of this league.
“That’s the belief it brings to me.”
Randall back in the fold for Staggies
County will have right-back Connor Randall available for selection once again, following a two-month absence with an ankle injury.
Fellow defenders Jake Vokins and Coll Donaldson remain sidelined, however, Mackay is pleased to have a near fully fit squad.
He added: “Connor is back into the squad again. He has been given the green light.
“Jake has started joining in at training, but he’s still a bit behind everyone in terms of fitness.
“Coll Donaldson has got a tightness so he is out, but other than that everyone else is fit and available.”
