Ross County forward Ross Stewart feels the Staggies’ winning habit can keep them thriving on all three domestic fronts.
County are aiming to reach the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup when they face rivals Caley Thistle in tonight’s last-16 replay, with the winners facing an all-Championship tie away to Dundee United.
The Staggies remain two points clear at the top of the table with a game in hand, while they will take on Welsh Premier League leaders Connah’s Quay Nomads in the final of the IRN-BRU Cup next month.
With County having won four of their last five matches, Stewart feels momentum can carry his side through the busy upcoming schedule.
Stewart said: “There is no better feeling in football than winning, so when you are getting far into tournaments you do become more aware that you are only one or two games away.
“Now we are in a final, and it’s one we want to win, but that’s in the future. We’ve got that to look forward to, but we’re in the last 16 of the Scottish Cup and we are where we want to be in the league at the minute.
“We need to make sure that, although we’ve got that distraction, we stay in that cup and top of the league in the other tournaments.
“Personally, it’s just the next game. Everybody talks about different cups and playing different teams, but you just go in focused on whoever you are playing.
“We just have to do our best to win the game. If it’s the Scottish Cup, the IRN-BRU Cup or the league, we all treat it the same.
“The managers pick a team that they believe win the game, and it’s up to the 11 that are chosen on the day to go and win it.”
Stewart’s most notable Scottish Cup experience came during his time with Albion Rovers when the Coatbridge outfit went down 3-0 against Celtic in January 2017, with the 22-year-old adding: “It was obviously a good experience to play in that game. It was played at Airdrie and they sold it out, so the atmosphere and playing against players of that quality in a televised game was as good as it got.
“I started on the right of a three, so I was up against Kieran Tierney and Scott Sinclair on the left.
“It was my first game back after an injury, so that certainly put the hamstring to the test.
“Celtic ran out easy winners, but it’s certainly a game I will remember for a long time. Hopefully I have got a lot more of them to come in my career.”
Stewart has netted in both his last two Highland derby appearances, and the former St Mirren attacker expects another tight encounter at Caledonian Stadium tonight, adding: “Derbies tend to always be close games, with both teams giving everything.
“Sometimes it can be a mistake or a bit of quality that settles it. It wouldn’t surprise anyone if this game was similar, but hopefully it can be us that’s on the right end of it to get to the quarter-finals.”