Ross County manager Jim McIntyre has warned his players must come back to earth after their Hampden heroics when they take on junior side Linlithgow Rose in the Scottish Cup on Saturday.
County’s memorable 3-1 win against Celtic at the national stadium on Sunday booked their place in the final of the League Cup against Hibs next month.
The Staggies’ Scottish Cup campaign begins on Saturday with a fifth-round home tie against a Rose side which finished third in the East Superleague last season and claimed the scalp of League 1 side Forfar 1-0 in the previous round.
McIntyre will not be treating the non-league outfit lightly.
He said: “We’ll pay them the respect they deserve. Billy Dodds and I went to watch them at Forfar and had them watched on Saturday at Irvine Meadow where they won 2-0.
“We’ve done our homework on them. We’ve spoken to someone who knows the juniors very well, so we’ll have chapter and verse on their players.
“We’re going from the high of Hampden to playing Linlithgow Rose at home, with no disrespect, and we’ve got to make sure our attitude is spot on.
“We will be. We’ve got too good a group of players and we know we’re going to have to be at our best.”
New signing David Goodwillie must wait to make his debut for the Dingwall men, with the on-loan Aberdeen forward cup-tied having played for the Dons in the competition.
With Englishman Craig Curran still recovering from the effects of concussion, Dutch attacker Alex Schalk has been handed his opportunity recently, scoring the decisive third goal against the Hoops on Sunday.
McIntyre hailed the 23-year-old’s persistence, adding: “I’m delighted for Alex because he’s had a lot of good performances, but the goals have not been there apart from against Dunfermline in the cup – until Sunday.
“It was great for him to get rewarded with the third goal against Celtic. It was a fabulous finish and all throughout the match he held up the ball well and made good decisions and intelligent movement.
“It was really pleasing.”