Malky Mackay believes a bigger points haul is well within Ross County’s grasp in the coming weeks.
The Staggies sit at the foot of the table, but remain level on points with both Dundee United and Saturday’s opponents Kilmarnock.
Ahead of the Rugby Park encounter, the two sides are separated by only two goals.
County have won two of their opening 11 fixtures, having failed to win any of their opening 10 matches last term.
Aside from the second half of the chastening 5-0 loss to Motherwell earlier this month, Mackay has seen enough to suggest his side will add to that tally.
He said: “We had that half against Motherwell, which was clearly nowhere near it. Even in that game, in the first half I thought we were not bad.
“Bizarrely enough we have more points than we did at this point last year. But I still think we could have picked up more.
“We have played everybody and I really don’t think we are a million miles off them all.
“That’s despite looking at a couple of the results, especially the Motherwell one.
“There’s a group of teams that we are as good as. We just need to keep proving it on a Saturday.
“We’ve got four points from six coming into this one.”
New arrivals must show
A number of Mackay’s 10 summer signings have been settling into Scottish football during the opening weeks of the campaign.
The Staggies boss reckons belief holds the key to them making an impact in Scottish football, and he added: “What I look at a year down the line is the changes. I would have loved to have had the group of players from the summer, and added to it to kick on this year.
“We knew there was going to be a cull again unfortunately, because of circumstances. There was nothing we could do about that.
“There were 10 new players in, but there’s a spine to my team now that I didn’t have around the start of the season last year.
“We have five or six that are new, who have real attributes, and they’ve just got to find their feet and have confidence in themselves. I’ve got confidence in them.”
Staggies looking to add to early season triumph over Killie
County’s first triumph of the season came against Killie, when Owura Edwards’ late goal secured a win at Victoria Park in August.
The last-ditch winner came despite the Staggies being down to 10 men, after Ross Callachan was sent off.
Killie will go into the game in confident mood after defeating Dundee United in midweek to reach the Premier Sports Cup semi-finals.
Mackay expects a formidable test from Derek McInnes’ side, who have won three of their last four home matches.
He added: “Kilmarnock are coming off the back of a really good win.
“Like the last away game down at Livingston, it’s another tough game against a good team and manager, on an astroturf pitch.
“We only played them a few weeks ago, so I know them and I know Derek well. He’s a terrific manager and Kilmarnock have done well to get him.”
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