Michael Gardyne has been the distance with Ross County in cup competitions but repeating past glory could not be further from the winger’s mind ahead of Saturday’s Scottish Cup fourth-round tie at Kilmarnock.
Gardyne was part of the Staggies side that reached the final of the competition in 2010 when the Dingwall men were in the First Division, going on to lose 3-0 against Dundee United in the final.
The 31-year-old went one better in the 2016 League Cup final, however, netting the opener to help Jim McIntyre’s side triumph 2-1 against Hibs at Hampden Park.
County begin this season’s Scottish Cup campaign against Killie but, with Owen Coyle’s players three points adrift at the foot of the Premiership, Gardyne says regaining momentum after nine matches without a victory is the main priority.
Gardyne said: “The Scottish Cup is obviously special.
“I’ve been to the final with Ross County on the losing end, which was not great, but it was a great run.
“It is a special cup. We want to try and win and get some confidence and a bit of momentum going into the league games.
“We have played well but not got the results but we would rather play badly and get the results. The next few games are massive.
“It’s just about trying to get a win and a bit of confidence back throughout the squad before kicking on in the league.
“The sooner we start winning the better.
“It’s a hard game at Motherwell in our first league game back but every game is hard in this league. We’ve seen that by losing to Hamilton and Partick in our last couple of games.
“We’re looking at Kilmarnock first of all. Hopefully, we can get a win, pick up from there and kick on.”
Gardyne spent a season with Killie in 2013/14 in a loan spell from Dundee United, where he teamed up with attacker Kris Boyd.
Veteran forward Boyd this week won the Premiership player-of-the-month award for December and Gardyne is wary of the former Rangers striker, adding: “He just keeps doing what he’s good at.
“He’s all about scoring goals and his link up play has got a lot better as he’s got older.
“He’s a goal machine and fair play to him as he’s been brilliant.
“That’s what good strikers are all about and that’s what he’s done throughout his career.
“If he’s not in games he will always pop up with a goal. We will need to be on our guard for him.
“But, with the training we’ve had, it’s all been about us and thinking about what we can do to influence the game.”