Ross County manager Malky Mackay is confident his players will remain level-headed in the Staggies’ push for a top-six place.
An excellent run of three victories in a week has lifted County into the top-half of the table, with only three matches to go until the split.
After suffering just one defeat from their last eight games, plaudits have increasingly come in the direction of Mackay and his players.
The Staggies boss insists his squad have shown the mental calmness required to keep themselves on track for a first top-six finish for six years.
Mackay said: “They’ve been level-headed all season. It really is a case of ‘don’t get high on your own supply.’
“Stay calm. (We told them) don’t get too low in that 10-game run without a win. The belief inside the camp in terms of how we can play, how they apply themselves, was showing then.
“It shows the exact same now, but I know there are a group of teams in there that are all in a little block. Any one of them could go on a good run or on a bad run, us included.
“I respect Mr MacGregor, our chairman, and our first order of business is to make sure we stay in this division.
“After that, we start looking at where we are. There are three games to the split now and we’ll see where we are at that point, and take it from there.
“The challenge recently has been to pick up more points and see where we land, but I think we are as good as anybody in that middle group.”
Staggies have shown steel throughout season
County have displayed a stunning transformation in form, since a 10-match winless run at the start of the campaign.
The Staggies have won nine of the 20 matches that have followed that sequence, with a superb 5-0 win over Dundee in October the turning point.
Mackay says the results have underpinned the belief he always had in his new-look side.
He added: “They were playing well from the start as a brand new group getting to know each other.
“It was an error here or there or a terrific goal, but we had huge belief in them.
“They believed in each other that it would come.
“After the last-minute header when we lost at Livingston, from that point onwards it flipped and turned.
“My challenge to them was to get back in the pack by Christmas, which we did.
“Since Christmas, when I look at the number of points we’ve picked up to now, I’m very proud of them – and that’s a mentality thing.
“Through all the trips back up the road in the early hours, and coming in first the next morning after a five or six-hour sleep for the debrief, they have kept that up.
“That’s what professionals are – they have a steeliness about them.”
County do not play again until their trip to Celtic on March 19, and Mackay is keen to strike the correct balance during their break from action.
He added: “We have had this all the way through the season. There have been three international breaks already, plus a winter break that was brought forward.
“There was also the Hibs game that was called off due to the Covid, and Scottish Cup weekends where we haven’t played.
“We have had intense periods with a lot of midweek games, and then a couple of weeks’ break.
“I have to give credit to my staff. We look at the process and the plan, and there’s a structure that allows players time to get back to see their families, and still be able to come in here and do hard work.”
