Ross County manager Jim McIntyre was proud of his players after they held champions Celtic to a goalless draw but now wants them to show their ruthless side against rivals Caley Thistle.
The Staggies have gone successive matches without scoring and McIntyre hopes that sequence comes to an end when Inverness are the visitors on New Year’s Day.
County managed only one shot on target against the Hoops on Saturday but the Ross County manager was full of praise for an industrious shift from lone forward Yoann Arquin.
He said: “It is key you have self-belief to go on and win matches. We have done a lot of things well in our recent games but we have not been burying the chances that have come our way.
“Hopefully, this result against Celtic will be a springboard that sets us up nicely for the Highland derby.
“It is two tough games in a row for us as Inverness have been flying this year.
“We performed well against them in the 1-1 draw at their place in October, so, hopefully, we can take it a stage further and get three points.
“The players did exceptionally well against Celtic and it is hard to single out anyone but I thought Yoann Arquin worked very hard up front.
“It was a real shift for an attacker and something I have done many times myself.
“I know how hard that can be but I thought everyone put in a shift – it was a fantastic team effort.”
The Staggies could head into this week’s derby without two of their most creative players – Graham Carey and Michael Gardyne who both suffered injuries at Celtic Park.
McIntyre added: “Graham Carey woke up on Saturday morning with a spasm in his back. He took some medication but he was toiling in the warm-up, so Michael Gardyne replaced him before kick-off.
“Michael took a bang on the back during the first half and had to come off so we now have two players to worry about with back injuries.”