Malky Mackay believes Ross County’s summer arrivals are buying into the way he wants his side to play at Scottish football’s top table.
Saturday was an off-day as the Staggies slipped to a 1-0 league loss at St Mirren and all the focus is now on trying to secure the first win of the season when Kilmarnock come calling.
Killie will arrive in Dingwall with a point to prove after their 5-0 home defeat against Celtic on Sunday.
County had a closer contest against the Hoops the week before as two late goals secured the champions a 3-1 win.
That followed an encouraging opening day Staggies performance in a 2-1 loss at Hearts, with County determined to sink Killie – last season’s Championship winners – to get off the foot of the table.
With 10 new faces bedding in at the club, manager Mackay explained his squad are determined to follow on from the success of last season when a sticky start to the season ended with a sparkling sixth-placed Premiership finish.
He said: “Initially, there was that need for an understanding of what I want as an identity for the football club.
“We’ve got a core group of players now who understand the structure, albeit the huge influx this summer has meant us laying that down again.
“But we have a group there who are already doing that, so it is easy for others coming in to follow that.
“There is an understanding of how I want to play and, now, it is all about dialing that up and looking at finer detail – being more intricate and trying to improve the quality if what we did last year.
“I don’t want to stand still here or go backwards, I want to push everything at the club forward so we have a group here that continues to challenge everyone in the league, like we did recently against the champions.”
Clean sheet could spark league rise
Full-back Callum Johnson, meanwhile, made his first league start of the season at the weekend.
The former Middlesbrough, Accrington Stanley, Portsmouth and Fleetwood defender slotted into the right-back berth in place of Connor Randall, who is sidelined with a broken bone in his leg.
The 25-year-old is confident when the Staggies earn their first win they can kick on and build upon it.
Johnson said: “Momentum is massive in football. Once you get the first win, or even a first clean sheet, you can build upon that.
“I’ve learned in my career that positive results can snowball. You can sometimes go into games and not even play well, yet still win. Hopefully that will come soon for us.
“You go through sticky spells as a side in your career, but the form can turn from a 1-0 win or from a solid performance, or a clean sheet – it doesn’t always have to be pretty.
“We’d take a 1-0 win. Momentum is massive and, once you get a couple of wins in a row, the confidence builds.”
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