Owen Coyle has vowed to give every one of his Ross County players at least a month to prove their worth to the new regime.
The former Burnley and Bolton Wanderers manager, fresh from a winning start at Kilmarnock, praised the work ethic evident in the squad he inherited from sacked Jim McIntyre and Billy Dodds.
While Coyle is clear he will look to bring his own flavour to the Dingwall team, he wants to give existing players a fair crack of the whip before deciding on the number of changes needed.
A first indication of the new manager’s willingness to give the current squad their chance was a pledge not to bring in any trialists during the international break. Coyle said: “There is a good group of players here and it’s evident they have a good work ethic.
“I’m not one of those managers who comes into a club and says ‘this is wrong and that is wrong’ and throws everyone there before under a bus.
“Over the years, there’s been an awful lot of good work done at Ross County by an awful lot of good people. What I want to do is continue that good work, simple as that. The players are hard-working and conscientious but what we want to do, as all managers have before, is add our own flavour and try to take it on.
“If there are players available who would improve and help the squad, we will look at it. If they’re not there, we don’t take them. I’m not a manager who stockpiles players. With the international break, I’ve not brought anyone in to look at because I also want to be very fair to the group already here and give them that chance.
“I’ve said that, over the next month or four to six weeks, we will look at it and give those players the opportunity. I think that’s fair.
“I’ve said to the players it will be a fair fight.”
Coyle was naturally delighted to secure County’s second win of the Premiership campaign just two days after being paraded at Dingwall. Goals from Craig Curran and Kenny van der Weg, who netted his first for the club, helped the new County manager get off to a winning start.
The breathing space afforded by Scotland’s World Cup double-header against Slovakia and Slovenia will be used to slowly, but surely, introduce more of his ideas.
The 51-year-old added: “They started really well on the front foot and I don’t think Kilmarnock were out of their own half in the first 15 minutes. We kept at that pace and scored the two goals.
“We probably could have added to it but then, having lost six of the last seven games, there was a natural reaction to try to hold and protect what we had.
“That can sometimes lead to trouble, so knowing how to manage a game when that situation arises is something we need to work on.”