Nine defeats from 10 home Scottish Premiership matches this season, Ross County forward Liam Boyce knows what must be fixed if his side is to have any chance of avoiding relegation.
County were beaten 2-1 by fellow-strugglers St Mirren in Dingwall on Saturday and were unable to capitalise on playing against 10 men after their former attacker Yoann Arquin was sent off on his Buddies debut for a challenge on Lewis Toshney.
Boyce thought he had secured a point for the Staggies when his header cancelled out Sean Kelly’s first-half opener for the Paisley side, but Stephen Mallan scored late to move Saints three points clear of County at the foot of the table.
Northern Irishman Boyce bemoaned his side’s poor home form which has seen them lose 10 out of 11 games at Victoria Park this season, in contrast to spirited away performances which have produced draws against Motherwell, Celtic and Dundee in recent weeks.
Boyce said: “Drawing away to Celtic was a great result and was a bonus. We need to be beating teams around us and unfortunately we didn’t on Saturday.
“It is frustrating to go from that performance to this one. We put in a good defensive performance against Celtic and got a point at Dundee with 10 men. Against St Mirren we just didn’t perform.
“I don’t know what it is, but in the away games we seem to be more defensively sound and then in the home games, for whatever reason, we lose that. I don’t know what it is but we need to fix it as quickly as possible.
“We needed to win on Saturday. Playing teams in and around us is most important. St Mirren were joint bottom with us and we needed a big win to take them down.
“We know there are plenty more points to play for.”
Boyce’s goal was his fourth from the bench this season, and having started just two games since joining from Cliftonville in the summer the 23-year-old is desperate for manager Jim McIntyre to show faith in him.
Boyce added: “I want to get starts, so I just need to keep pushing. The best I can do is score and I just need to keep doing that when I can.
“Earlier in the season, I was searching for full fitness and then I got a red card in the 3-2 loss against Dundee United, so players were going to start ahead of me.
“I just need to keep trying to change the manager’s mind and get myself into the team.”