Ross County manager John Hughes says on-loan midfielders Stephen Kelly and Charlie Lakin have a key role to play in the Staggies’ survival push before they return to their parent clubs.
Kelly, who is on loan from Rangers, and Birmingham City player Lakin, have both impressed having spent the season at Victoria Park.
Although Kelly initially had to be patient under previous manager Stuart Kettlewell, he has gone on to make 22 appearances, while Lakin has scored three times in 17 outings but spent a month on the sidelines with a thigh injury.
Both players were impressive performers in County’s stunning 1-0 victory over Celtic on Sunday, and Hughes feels the energy they bring to his side make them valuable assets while they remain at Dingwall.
Hughes said: “We’ve got two loanees in the middle of the park. When this is all said and done, they will go back to their clubs. We’ve got other boys there so we have to be very careful in what we are doing.
“There is no questioning their attitude. I’m in next to Stephen Kelly every day talking to him, and he talks football to you.
“Charlie has probably found himself hard done by. When he came in he scored a couple of goals, but I felt I just needed to change it a little bit.
“The two of them did very well.
“I’ve been talking to the chairman about how I’m going to go about it, the dynamics we’ve got with Harry Paton, Lakin and Kelly is hard to play against.
“We needed that because you have to get legs to get around Celtic.”
Hughes has the majority of players back at his disposal for the Staggies’ nine remaining matches, although defenders Tom Grivosti and Connor Randall are out for the season with long-term injuries.
The County boss says every member of his squad will be called upon during the run-in, adding: “There were too many in the physio room when I came in, but I’ve now got good numbers to pick from.
“This week has been the first time we have been on the grass pitches since I came to the club, because of the frost and snow. That has played a massive benefit as now we can get out there and coach.
“We had a practice match and the boys that were not playing gave the guys that were an absolute doing. We have to reward that, which is why guys like Spittal and Midge came back into the team.
“The message it sends out is every time we have a practice match on the big pitch, they are playing for their position. That’s the standard we are trying to set at the club.
“The substitutes all came on and played their part against Celtic.”
County’s triumph has moved them up to 10th in the table, above both Hamilton Accies and Kilmarnock ahead of Saturday’s trip to St Mirren.
Hughes has urged his side to keep themselves grounded, and he added: “It has to give us a big boost, they can’t get too big for their boots.
“I gave them Monday off. It was a different class result, but we’ve got another nine cup finals to play before the end of the season. We have to try and win every one of them.
“If they give me that they are capable, but they cannot get blase as that’s a recipe for disaster.
“We let them enjoy it, but once we came back in on Tuesday it was right back down to earth.”