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Jim McIntyre: Home advantage can help Staggies to fourth

Jim McIntyre
Jim McIntyre

Ross County manager Jim McIntyre hopes home advantage can prove crucial in the race to secure fourth place in the Premiership and possible Europa League qualification.

The Staggies met their target of a top-six finish, thanks to last weekend’s 1-0 victory against Partick Thistle.

County are in sixth place, a point adrift of fourth-placed Motherwell and only behind St Johnstone on goal difference.

The post-split fixture list has handed them away matches against Aberdeen, Hearts and Celtic, despite having already made the trip to Parkhead twice this season.

With Hearts having already secured third, McIntyre says the home encounters against Well and Saints could go a long way towards determining which side finishes fourth and with it secure Europa League qualification if Celtic win the Scottish Cup.

McIntyre said: “We’ve got three tough games away from home and we thought it might be possible to get Celtic at home. But we’ve got the two teams challenging for fourth spot at home and that’s a positive.

“All the games are going to be tough. I’m not even thinking about a European place – all we’re looking at is getting better results than St Johnstone and Motherwell, the two teams we can finish above. We’ll be doing what we can to achieve that.”

County’s top-half finish is just their second since they first won promotion to the top-flight in 2012 and comes in an already memorable campaign in which they won the League Cup for the first time.

Having drawn just four league games all season, McIntyre feels his bold approach has paid off. He said: “We’re very pleased to make the top six – that was our aim at the start of the season.

“To be in the top six for nearly every week of the season, bar the last one, is something the players deserve immense credit for. We’ve been a lot more consistent, which is what we wanted to become.

“There’s room for improvement. We’ve conceded far too many goals and we need to get better at that. The team is set up to play attacking football, be entertaining and get victories. That’s been highlighted with the lack of draws we’ve had.

“Look at Dundee for instance – they have drawn 14 games this season whereas we have only drawn four, none of them at home and that’s because we really go for games. Sometimes that costs matches but, equally, it wins them as well.

“The aim now is to go for that fourth spot as there’s only one point between us.”