Ross County midfielder Christopher Routis says the Staggies’ relegation dogfight will go on regardless of the the outcome of Saturday’s crucial match against Partick Thistle.
County are three points adrift of Thistle at the foot of the Premiership but can leapfrog the Jags on goal difference with a victory, however a defeat to Alan Archibald’s men would see them fall further behind in their pursuit of top-flight survival.
With this the first of 10 games still remaining, Frenchman Routis is under no illusions about the severity of the Dingwall side’s situation but he insists nothing will be settled at Victoria Park this weekend.
Routis said: “It’s really serious because we are bottom right now. We are a little bit lucky it’s still narrow between teams. It will be cup finals between now and the end of the season and we were not ready for that against St Johnstone.
“We need points now and hopefully that will start on Saturday. It’s a good opportunity to get back really close to them, and maybe close to other teams as well. If everyone sees we are back and getting closer, it will put the pressure on teams. It will be an important game but I don’t think it will be the end if anything happens.
“Win, draw or lose it will not be finished because many games are coming after, especially with the split.”
Routis insists Owen Coyle’s side must show a greater willingness to grind out results even when they are not at their best, adding: “I don’t want to give names but I think a couple of teams in the league are not really good with the ball. But they fight and they get points.
“That’s what we need to do first because we have players that can play football as well if we do. I think we have a really good squad – I think we have a better team than lots of teams that are higher than us.
“We watched the St Johnstone game back and we didn’t look like a team that wants to fight to stay in the league. That was the worst thing.
“When we are in this situation, the first thing you need to do is fight and win the battle – that’s what we didn’t do.
“When you play like we did, you expect no points. It was maybe too much confidence, maybe we started thinking that because we had played well in the last two games, we would do it again.
“Against Dundee and especially against Hearts at home, we definitely won the battle and fought really hard everywhere all over the pitch.”