Ross County manager Malky Mackay hopes his men can turn the heat on Aberdeen counterpart Jim Goodwin in Monday’s Premiership showdown at Pittodrie.
The north rivals go head-to-head on the back of four successive losses each, with the pressure on both to deliver winning starts to 2023.
The Dons are aiming to reclaim third spot after defeats against Celtic, Rangers, St Mirren and Kilmarnock. They trail Hearts, who host Hibs on Monday, by three points.
Celtic, St Johnstone, Rangers and Dundee United have defeated County since the end of the World Cup break, pushing the Staggies into 12th position, one point below United.
County remain upbeat about their displays, but eager to ensure they make pressure pay off.
They return to the scene of joy when last season a 1-0 win at Aberdeen earned them a top-six spot for the first time since 2016.
The Reds were banished to the bottom half for the first time in a decade, with Goodwin replacing Stephen Glass just two months earlier.
Mackay pointed to his time in charge of Cardiff City as an example of how major clubs in big cities are expected to be successful.
In Scotland, away from the Old Firm, it also includes the Dons, Hearts and Hibs.
Home fans can turn on host manager
County won 2-0 at Hibs in November and Mackay hopes the same kind of front-foot display from his team can unsettle the home fans rather than give him an earful.
He said: “Expectation is one of the challenges that any manager of Aberdeen, Hearts and Hibs will face – those big city clubs have got a demand and an expectation on their manager.
“I had the exact same thing at Cardiff City. It’s a one-team city. It was a capital city and there is a demand on the manager, which was maybe not quite there when I was at Watford, which is a small, provincial club.
“Whoever is the Aberdeen, Hibs or Hearts manager will have that huge demand. They have a huge support and there’s a fervent nature at the clubs.
“If you visit certain clubs, like when we started well at Easter Road, and there was a noticeable sea change from the fans, who went from shouting at me to shouting at the home manager, which was preferable from my point of view.”
Boss Mackay relishes Pittodrie visits
Despite the Dons’ slump, Mackay looks at how Aberdeen so nearly pulled off a win against Rangers before a late Scott Arfield double last month ended in a 3-2 home defeat.
He said: “Jim has built a good squad this season and he’s a good manager. We know it will be a tough game for us.
“I really enjoyed our last experience there last season. It’s a terrific stadium to visit. I’ve always liked going to Pittodrie, even when I had the Scotland game there.
“You are always welcomed there. There’s a bit of class from the staff and there is always a big crowd and an atmosphere. Not always a friendly one, I may add.
“But even then, it’s another game we really want to get our teeth into. It’s one of the iconic grounds of Scottish football.
“History reverberates around the place, with Fergie and all the top players who have played there. It’s a good club.”
A dramatic finish saw County and Aberdeen draw 1-1 in Dingwall in September.
A superb Luis ‘Duk’ Lopes strike put the Dons in front with two minutes to go, but William Akio responded with a stoppage-time equaliser.
Split decisions make big differences
Wednesday’s 3-0 defeat at Dundee United saw the teams trade places on a night of ‘what ifs’ for now bottom-placed County.
A Connor Randall own goal put United ahead before the visitors created several chances, including Keith Watson hitting the post, but could not draw level.
Goals from Charlie Mulgrew and Craig Sibbald took the game away from County, who had a goal disallowed by VAR and Owura Edwards sent off.
Mackay explained how split-second decisions at either end of the pitch can be match-defining in the heat of the moment.
He added: “We’ve shot ourselves in the foot quite a few times this season. Last year, at the start of the season, we were giving away howlers. We cut that out of our game.
“It’s more situations over the last six to eight weeks in games we’ve been heavily involved in where we’ve not taken a chance or given away something to our cost, for example our sending off (for Jack Baldwin) at home against St Johnstone.
“We have to try and change these situations. The first goal was a poor one to concede against Dundee United and we had a chance when Owura Edwards was right through and missed.
“In the space of the first half, we had two situations. If we defend that properly and that goes in the net then the game changes.”
County head to Pittodrie without suspended duo Jack Baldwin and Owura Edwards.
Defender Baldwin has exceeded the points threshold, while Edwards missed out as a result of his Tannadice dismissal.
Conversation