Ross County registered their first clean sheet of the league campaign against Kilmarnock last week and Staggies manager Jim McIntyre reckons his new-look defence could hold the key to another victory away to Hamilton Accies today.
McIntyre made defensive reinforcements his priority over the summer after his side conceded 61 goals in the Premiership last season, prompting him to sign Jay McEveley, Erik Cikos and Kenny van der Weg.
County go into today’s game against Accies on the back of successive victories against Caley Thistle and Kilmarnock, and McIntyre has called for another solid defensive display.
McIntyre said: “I said in the summer the reason we made additions at the back is because we had to strengthen that area – and we’ve certainly done that.
“I thought the back four players last Saturday were excellent. They have good experience and when they defend like they did we have a great chance of winning the game, given we have such an attacking threat as well.
“It is about getting the balance right and being able to do both.
“But it is only one clean sheet. Previously we had conceded five goals in two games, so there is a lot of work still to be done. But I was delighted for the defence because they deserved the clean sheet.”
County are aiming to make it three wins in a row before signing off for the international break, which McIntyre would regard as an excellent response to their opening-day defeat by Dundee.
McIntyre, who could hand a debut to Tim Chow following the midfielder’s arrival from Wigan Athletic on Thursday, added: “We’re facing a tough side. They’ve been very unfortunate not to pick up more points and have had chances to score more goals. They’ve done well and have shown they can win games at this level.
“The way we’ve been playing, if we can bring that level of performance we’ve got a good chance of winning the match.
“Nine points from 12 would be an excellent start going into the international break and you’re always looking to go in on the back of a positive result. That’s what we’ll be trying to do.”