Ross County forward Alex Schalk is determined to force his way to a League Cup final starting berth by helping the Staggies secure a top-six finish.
The Dutchman set the Staggies on the way to a 2-1 win against Hamilton Accies at Victoria Park on Saturday, with the opening goal on the stroke of half time.
Hamilton were handed a lift just 90 seconds after the interval when Staggies defender Jamie Reckord was red carded for bringing down Dougie Imrie.
Imrie’s header restored parity on 67 minutes but midfielder Ian McShane had the final say for the Dingwall men, curling home a delightful 25-yard free kick to secure the three points.
The result keeps County fourth in the Premiership, with next month’s League Cup final against Hibernian looming and Schalk said: “Everyone wants to play in the cup final, of course. But that’s not our priority at the moment. We have six games coming up which are so important to us in finishing in the top six.
“We had to focus on that and I truly think we did. We had to win this one and move on to the next – that’s the way we are thinking just now.
“It’s one at a time. We’ve won this one, it’s over, on to the next one.”
Schalk’s goal was his fourth since joining the Staggies in October, but having made just eight starts the former Go Ahead Eagles attacker is eager to cement a place in manager Jim McIntyre’s side.
The 23-year-old added: “I think I did well a couple of weeks ago when I started against Celtic.
“I feel like I did pretty well but I had two games on the bench against Hearts and then Celtic again.
“I’ve done well when I’ve come on and I’ve kept training hard and performing well every day.
“I’m delighted the manager gave me another chance and I think I did a good job.
“I was a bit unlucky to be substituted but I understand that, because it was a tactical decision to bring on another defender.
“It’s always disappointing to be dropped, especially when I’ve done well. But I don’t want to think about that. I need to just keep on going and working hard, because I knew eventually my chance would come again.
“I’m delighted we won, that was the most important thing.”