Ross County defender Andrew Davies is striving for early-season consistency to help take the heat off the Staggies in the latter part of the campaign.
The Dingwall men have taken six points from a possible 12 going into the first international break of the season this weekend, falling a 1-0 defeatby Hamilton on Saturday.
Although Jim McIntyre’s Staggies finished sixth last season, they had to wait until their final pre-split fixture to seal their place in the top half thanks to a 1-0 victory against Partick Thistle.
Davies is eager to regain momentum when County return to action against Motherwell next Saturday and he said: “We obviously wanted to win on Saturday and nine points would have been great but we just have to take six points and say that, given the standards the manager has set, we are a bit disappointed. We need to just dust ourselves down and try to pick up as many points as we can in the next few games.
“Whenever we lose we always want a game to come round and try and put it right. We just need to not think too much about it. Last year we had results that didn’t go our way and we didn’t let it beat us up too much. We didn’t let it affect us and we went on to finish in the top six, which is our aim again.
“We set a target at the start of the season and, while we are not off target, we want to get as many wins as we can early doors and that takes the pressure off you for when we get towards the end of the season. We are disappointed with any dropped points.”
McIntyre is likely to attempt to bolster his squad in the free agent market outwith the transfer window after the departures of defenders Chris Robertson and Scott Boyd, who has joined Kilmarnock on loan for the season.
McIntyre last week added former Wigan midfielder Tim Chow and Davies is confident he and any further new arrivals will quickly settle in at Victoria Park.
The 31-year-old added: “The stronger we can be by adding to the squad the better it will be overall.
“I’ve not seen much of Tim yet as he’s only been in for a few days. The manager will think he can add to what we have got, so that’s great news. He will add competition for the midfield.
“It’s an honest dressing-room. We have a mix of youth and experience and goals in our team.”