Ross Laidlaw insists Ross County have moved into the Premiership’s top half with the intention of staying there.
The Staggies recorded a third straight victory with a 1-0 triumph over St Mirren on Saturday.
It is a sequence of results which has allowed County to start looking up the table, with 12 points now separating them from the relegation zone.
Malky Mackay’s men have three games remaining before the split, with a trip to Celtic on March 19 followed by games against Hearts and Aberdeen.
County have only finished in the top-six twice in their previous eight top-flight campaigns.
Goalkeeper Laidlaw insists his side have sights on achieving the feat for the first time since 2016.
Laidlaw said: “Hopefully we can get a top-six finish. That’s the objective. The manager has talked about looking up rather than down and we’ve done that.
“But we know the next three games will be difficult, especially away to Celtic. But at least we’ve got time to regroup.
“You could see the boys were quite tired after the game especially having a midweek trip to Motherwell.
“But we’d rather be in the position we are in rather than chasing the top-six. Now we are there, we just need to try and stay there.”
Defensive strength a source of satisfaction for Staggies goalkeeper
Laidlaw has helped County record back-to-back clean sheets for the first time this season, with the Staggies having gone three months without a shut-out prior to Wednesday’s 1-0 triumph over Motherwell.
The former Hibernian goalkeeper hopes his side can build on their strong foundations.
He added: “I’m delighted to have two clean sheets.
“We’ve conceded a lot of goals and that looked like being our downfall because we’ve scored a lot of goals, too.
“Defensively we’ve probably been a wee bit too open and made a lot of mistakes and dropped a few points because of it. But two clean sheets is great for the team going forward.
“The manager challenged us after Wednesday to make it back-to-back and he said there was no point in doing it then conceding a few soft goals in the next game.
“There were very few chances but everybody put their body on the line, not just the defence, everyone put a shift in, and it was a great effort to get three wins in a row.”
Laidlaw has made seven successive appearances, following a broken nose suffered by Ash Maynard-Brewer.
The 29-year-old is pleased his patience is paying off, adding: “It’s been good getting a run of games.
“It’s difficult when you’re not playing but I always tried to support Ash as best I can and be as good a guy as I can around the dressing room and get behind the boys.
“You are not going to play every week. I had a good season last year and it was about trying to stay patient and hope when you get your chance you do well.
“Since I came in the team has picked up the last few games.”