Ross County forward Ross Stewart has urged the Staggies not to get carried away in their pursuit of a Scottish Cup semi final berth at Hampden Park.
County will take on Highland rivals Inverness in a last-16 replay at Caledonian Stadium next Tuesday, following the sides’ 2-2 draw at Dingwall on Monday.
Should Steven Ferguson and Stuart Kettlewell’s men progress, their reward will be an all-Championship quarter final tie away to Dundee United, however Stewart is wary of looking too far ahead as the Staggies dream of a first national stadium outing since their League Cup final victory over Hibernian in 2016.
Stewart said: “With it being another team from our league, Dundee United, hopefully we can get through.
“But we don’t want to look too far ahead because it is going to be a really tough replay against Inverness.
“Looking at where teams left in the Scottish Cup rank, Dundee United is not a bad draw, but they will probably feel the same at home to us or Inverness.
“It will be another good advert for the Championship, with one in the semi final now regardless of what happens.
“We certainly want to be there for a game at Hampden.”
Stewart netted to make it 1-1 within 60 seconds of being introduced as a substitute against Inverness on Monday, and having netted the winner in the sides’ previous league meeting in December, the 22-year-old hopes his derby goalscoring habit continues.
He added: “The manager just told me to go on and bring energy to the game – get myself a goal. Being a striker, you’re always trying to get yourself into the box and Midge has put in a great ball.
“Let’s hope my own derby impact continues. That’s obviously twice in a row I’ve scored in them.
“As, you always want to play but we’ve got a really strong squad here and, whatever team the managers go with in the replay, every player will be right behind it.”
County’s focus switches to Friday’s IRN-BRU Cup semi final tie at home to East Fife, with the Staggies aiming to set up a final against Welsh side Connah’s Quay Nomads or League 2 side Edinburgh City.
Former St Mirren player Stewart added: “The games are coming thick and fast. It’s a tough schedule but that’s why we have a squad of such depth here – really good quality that can come off the bench and change games like on Monday.
“I’m sure the managers will be using everybody with all the midweek fixtures coming up.
“We just have to meet the challenge head on. We’ll look to win as many as we can.”