Ross County’s leading-scorer Liam Boyce wants to extend his stay with the Staggies beyond this summer.
Boyce has netted eight goals in 29 appearances since joining from Northern Ireland champions Cliftonville last summer, but is out of contract at the end of the season.
The 24-year-old has enjoyed making the step up from part-time football.
Boyce hopes helping the Staggies secure Premiership status for the fourth consecutive season can land him the extended contract he is looking for.
Boyce said: “I just want to push through and put in performances that earn me another contract. There are a lot of players in a similar position.
“I definitely want to stay, but first and foremost, no-one likes to get relegated and I don’t want that on my cv.
“We don’t want the club to go down as it’s a great place to play. We all want to finish the job and keep the club up.
“Hopefully, that will be enough to get the players new contracts.
“It’s more common to approach the summer in this way. A lot of players have gone through the season without a club, we are all playing for our livelihoods.
“Some people deal with the pressure better. They have to deal with it as it’s part of being a footballer.
“But in terms of opportunity for me, this is a good place to be. Last year I was just hoping someone would take a gamble on me because I was playing at a lower level at Cliftonville.
“I couldn’t have wished for a better position to be in a year on. I’m playing at a higher level, I’ve scored a few goals and it’s a great platform for me to show what I can do.”
Boyce has played a key role in County’s resurgence under manager Jim McIntyre, which brought eight matches out of nine prior to Saturday’s 2-1 defeat against Partick Thistle.
The attacker, who has been capped four times for Northern Ireland, says his side are not disheartened by the defeat and remains optimistic County can win against Motherwell on Saturday to virtually secure survival.
Boyce added: “Had it been a couple of months ago, in that same match, it would have been maybe three or four nil. We wouldn’t have gone 1-0 up.
“We’re a completely different team. We can grind out results, even though it didn’t work on Saturday. We went ahead when we didn’t deserve to. We would certainly rather be six points ahead and it’s great the run has put it in our own hands.
“If we win on Saturday, we’d be almost there – we’d need just one more point.”