Connor Randall believes Ross County have shown they are ready for the challenge of climbing the Premiership table.
The Staggies moved out of the relegation zone after taking four points from two home games against Kilmarnock and Hibernian, before falling to a narrow 2-1 loss to Rangers in their last outing.
Malky Mackay’s men have dropped back into 11th spot due to Motherwell’s midweek victory over St Mirren – who the Staggies face today.
Given the tightness of the bottom half of the table, defender Randall says his side’s recent displays have shown a major step in the right direction.
Randall said: “It is tight down there. A few results can see us climb a few places.
“That’s definitely the target for us, but we’ve just got to take each game as it comes, starting with St Mirren on Saturday.
“It is important we go there and get the result we’re looking for. We need to keep looking upwards in the table and chasing the teams above us.
“Ideally we would want to be higher up the league than where we are, but we always have belief in ourselves and we have to be excited about these games and the challenge of pushing up the league.
“That’s the goal everyone wants to achieve.
“We came back after the break and lost the first few games, but then picked up some points and it changes.
“We can only keep focusing on ourselves and picking up the points we can.”
Fresh faces can aid Staggies’ cause
Mackay bolstered his squad in the January transfer window, making five new additions.
The latest of those, on-loan Wigan Athletic winger Gwion Edwards, is in contention to make his debut in Paisley today.
Forwards Simon Murray, Eamonn Brophy and Josh Stones were added, along with midfielder Nohan Kenneh.
Randall is excited by what the fresh arrivals can bring to the Dingwall side.
The 27-year-old added: “It was a good January for us – I think we brought in some great signings that add good things to the team.
“A bit of freshness in January always helps everyone. We’ve brought some boys in that know the league, they know Scotland.
“We’ve seen that from the games and performances they’ve put in. They’re great lads off the pitch and doing well on it.
“That bodes well for us.”
Randall takes heart from Ibrox showing
Despite not having anything to show for their efforts on the day, Englishman Randall insists the Staggies will approach the trip to Paisley with confidence.
Randall added: “Last week there was no game and we’ve had a few good performances of late, so we are keen to get back out there and hopefully continue that good run of form.
“Ibrox is a tough place to go, having been there many a time.
“We were always in the game and we came away disappointed not to take something.
“That speaks volumes for the level of performance we managed to put in and that was against one of the best teams in the league.
“We’ve got to take confidence from that going into Saturday.”
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