Cove Rangers defender Scott Ross insists he and his team-mates enjoy the pressure that comes with leading the pack.
Cove have done a good job of remaining grounded so far and hold a solid seven-point advantage at the top of League One.
At one stage, this weekend’s opponents Queen’s Park were deemed title contenders, but have struggled to string wins together. The Spiders sit in fourth place, but are 17 points behind the leaders, with just seven wins from their 23 games.
The draw with Airdrieonians at the Balmoral Stadium last Saturday holds them at arm’s length too, but Ross is aware the pressure will come.
He said: “You would rather be top than a few points off chasing. You would rather have that pressure to go perform every week.
“We’re in a good position but it’s down to hard work. We’ve got to keep working hard in training for when Saturdays come.
“The experience definitely helps. We’ve got guys who’ve played at the top level in Scotland. But we’ve got a number of players within Cove that have gone on to win leagues and cups.”
Ross is part of an experienced Cove side, many of whom have tasted success with the club in the past.
Winning is drummed into any player that pulls on a Cove shirt, something which is particularly important at this time of the season.
Ross joined the Aberdeen side in 2017 from Peterhead and is chasing his fourth league title for Cove.
He added: “We’ve been used to winning trophies. At Highland League level, there’s four or five competitions to enter, so you get used to it.
“But at the moment we’re a long way off. We’ve still got a number of games to play and at the moment we’re concentrating on Queen’s Park.”
The Spiders are the only team Cove have not beaten yet in the league this season, after losing at Firhill in August and drawing 3-3 in Aberdeen two months later.
Ross added: “It’s not something the manager will mention (not beating Queen’s Park), but the boys will probably speak amongst one another about it.
“It’s down to how good a team Queen’s Park are. They might be a bit disappointed with where they are in the league, because, if you look at the start they had, they were flying.
“They’re a very good unit and hard to break down. They’ve got the firepower up front as well.
“There’s no point looking any further than the Saturday in front of you. The manager will put across what he wants us to do in the game and we approach it looking to get the three points.”