Ross County manager Jim McIntyre has backed his players to show a determined response to Wednesday’s 3-0 defeat by Hearts when the Staggies face Celtic at Parkhead today.
McIntyre was left stunned by his side’s midweek defeat after County dominated large spells of the game.
The Highlanders remain fourth in the Premiership but are just four points ahead of Caley Thistle in seventh and McIntyre says his side must forget about the past in order to focus on securing a top-six place.
He said: “It’s not a disaster. Let’s put it in context. We’ve lost at home to a team third in the league, disappointing as that is when our performance deserved far more.
“It’s up to us to bounce back. We’ve got eight games before the split. We go to Parkhead this weekend and, after that, we’re playing all the teams around about us vying to get into the top six.
“It’s all to play for. There’s no doom and gloom. Wednesday night was really sore – sometimes in football you get these kicks when you don’t deserve them.
“But I’m a great believer in looking at ourselves. Could we have defended the goals better? Absolutely. Did we put away the chances we created? No.
“Put those two things together and we will struggle to win the game.”
County are tasked with piling further misery on Celtic this afternoon, having ended the Hoops’ treble hopes with a 3-1 victory in the semi-final of the League Cup last month.
McIntyre says his side will treat the match like any other and added: “Any time we go to Parkhead we’re looking first and foremost to have a good performance. Celtic are expected to win every game at home.
“We have a belief we can win any game if we bring everything together. Going to Parkhead is no different.”
McIntyre deployed leading scorer Liam Boyce alongside on-loan Aberdeen forward David Goodwillie for the first time against Hearts and, with Craig Curran still sidelined with a head injury, the Staggies manager was encouraged by the partnership, adding: “Liam and David looked good together. David is a clever player, with good experience.
“There were encouraging signs there and, along with Brian Graham, Alex Schalk and Craig, we have good options there.”