Derek Adams says reducing the gap to St Mirren above them with a victory in Paisley this weekend would show how far Ross County have come.
County, who have moved up to eighth place in the Premiership after winning their last two matches, have a quickfire rematch against a Buddies they defeated 1-0 at Victoria Park last Tuesday.
Prior to that victory, the Staggies had trailed Stephen Robinson’s side – who occupied third place but have now dropped to fourth – by 11 points.
The Dingwall outfit can further reduce that deficit to just two points with a victory this weekend – and Adams feels a number of sides in the top-six are quickly coming into the Staggies’ sights.
He said: “The league has tightened up. On Wednesday night, we had St Johnstone and Kilmarnock winning, and St Mirren losing.
“The league becomes ever so tight and there’s a good number of teams in there who feel they can make that top six position.
“It is a 33-game season, then a 38-game season. It is all well and good having good starts to the season, but it is how you progress over the whole season.
“We haven’t had the best of starts to the season, but if we can continue to show the form we are, we’ll certainly catch more teams above us.”
Adams determined to build on fine start
County have taken seven points from a possible nine since Adams replaced Malky Mackay at Victoria Park last month.
Although he is thrilled with the start, Adams says the Staggies must look to sustain their form throughout the entire campaign.
Adams said: “It’s an ongoing process, as it is throughout the season.
“The players have quality, they’ve shown that.
“We have to continue that because we go away to St Mirren on Saturday, another tough game.
“They come off a loss to St Johnstone and we beat them in the last game, but it is a new game. We’ll have to be at it and take our opportunities as they come along.
“We’ll have to be wary of them, but at the same time I think they’ll be wary of us and see the threat we have going forward, and how resolute we’ve been in defence.
“They know we’ll cause them problems, but likewise we’ll have to be wary of the threat they have.”
Adams is keen for County to focus on their own agenda, in order to be in a position to capitalise on their Premiership rivals dropping points.
He added: “It’s important that when you are playing against the teams around about you that you don’t lose.
“Can you gather those three points?
“With how tight the league is, it enables you to get further ahead of them and also catch many teams above you.
“Everyone is looking over their shoulder, looking at results and looking at who is going to drop points next.
“That’s what we are doing to other teams as well.”
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