Ross County winger Josh Mullin says his unlikely promotion feat with Livingston last season proves the Staggies cannot take anything for granted in the Championship this season.
Mullin was part of a Livi side that defied the odds to win promotion to the top-flight through the play-offs last term, in the West Lothian club’s first season in the second-tier after winning the League 1 title.
After opting to leave Almondvale to join County on a two-year deal this summer, Mullin is part of a side that is among the favourites for the Championship title this season, however the 25-year-old insists he is not paying attention to pre-season predictions.
Mullin said: “I don’t think the boys are really thinking about being favourites. Some boys are new to this league, but everybody in this team is definitely good enough to play in the league above.
“I think everybody is just wanting to get a good start to the season and see where it takes us. Boys have been asking me about the league, and I know you can’t get too carried away, you can’t listen to who is favourites or anything like that.
“We were nowhere near favourites last year, it’s just about how you apply yourself game-by-game, and you see where it takes you.
“Being totally honest if you speak to any of the boys, none of us expected it. We just took it game-by-game and in the end we only lost eight games.
“It was always about how we reacted after a defeat. I think it will be massive for the boys this year, and I think the good thing is the wee blip on Wednesday night showed we will, in the season, have a defeat.
“It’s about how we react, so everybody is in it together and we obviously want to have a good season.”
County suffered their first setback of the new campaign last Wednesday when they lost 4-1 to Arbroath in the Betfred Cup, however they responded well with a 2-0 win over Alloa Athletic on Saturday to win their section and set up a second round tie away to Hibernian on August 18.
Mullin says the Staggies will need to show resilience during their Championship campaign, which begins with another game against Alloa at Victoria Park on Saturday.
He added: “Nobody really expected us to get beaten against Arbroath on Wednesday night, but it just shows everyone it can happen.
“It’s about how you react and that’s massive in this league. I know, I have already been there with Livingston. That was one thing we had, whenever we got beaten it was the way we reacted.
“For the boys to go and put that right on Saturday was massive. It just shows everyone we have got that to go and fix it after it has gone wrong.
“Alloa will be wanting to put that right, but at the same time we are wanting to have a good start to the campaign, just like everyone.
“We know a bit about them now, and they know a bit about us. It’s just about who wants it more on the day now really.”