Ross County may sit bottom of the Premiership pile but Malky Mackay insists they have nothing to fear.
The Staggies are four points adrift of Dundee at the foot of the table, with their next match at home to Hibernian on November 24.
Having played all their top-flight opponents, County began their second round of fixtures with a 4-2 loss to Rangers at Ibrox on Sunday.
Although County have only recorded one win from their opening 12 games – albeit in emphatic fashion with a 5-0 triumph at Dundee – Mackay remains adamant in his belief his side can match any team on their day.
Mackay said: “We have played everybody. There’s nothing hidden, there’s nothing to fear.
“There are some good teams in this division, and on any given day we’ve got to make sure we match everything. But we are a match for most in this division and that has shown over the games.
“It hasn’t shown in terms of points, and I hold my hands up and take that. But in terms of the way we’ve played against these teams, it has.
“We will keep going the way we’re going and I will make sure we apply ourselves and try to do the basics slightly better.
“If we do that, I’m confident that we’re going to catch the pack and get back into it again.
“That’s when we will start to climb.”
Rangers staff full of praise for Staggies’ efforts
Mackay says his belief in County’s players was vindicated by the response of Rangers’ backroom staff to the Dingwall side’s performance in Glasgow.
He added: “I was speaking to Rangers’ staff after the game. There are three of the five guys that I know really well.
“I got a call out of blue later on in the evening and was told they had a conversation concerning us between them.
“They were very complimentary of the problems we caused them.
“They were also talking about their thoughts on where we would be in the league going forward.
“Talking to the guys on Tuesday and showing them the times we were on the ball in good areas should give us confidence. We were playing against the best, on their home patch, and we gave a reasonable account of ourselves.
“That’s something I want to take into the next set of games we play, because we’ve got a good group of players. It’s a group that I think can hurt anybody in this league.”
Mackay is thrilled with the way his players have responded to his demands, but still feels there is more to come.
He added: “We just need to be a wee bit more clinical at both ends of the pitch. Over the next period I’m going to make sure myself, Don Cowie and Scott Thomson drive them hard and push them further than they think they can be pushed.
“I think they’ve already done that. I think there’s already 10% in them now that they didn’t think they had, and there’s still more to come.”