Malky Mackay insists he is remaining relaxed about Ross County’s position in the Premiership table.
The Staggies are in bottom spot after 12 matches, albeit only behind Dundee United on goal difference.
County have recorded two wins to this point, with their next match at home to Hearts on Sunday.
It provides the Staggies with the opportunity to narrow the gap on the seventh-placed Jambos to just two points.
Last season, County succeeded in their pursuit of a top-six place in a battle which went down to the final day before the split.
Mackay insists the fine margins in the table prevent him from getting too caught up in where his side lies at this stage.
He said: “I’m not looking too much at the league table at the moment.
“Somebody said to me that if we win on Sunday, we’re only a few points behind Hearts, which is scary.
“For a fair amount of the season last year, there was an awful lot of teams, right up until the split, which could have been in the top six.”
Mackay considers Premiership to be stronger this year
County fell to a 1-0 defeat against Kilmarnock last weekend, in a result which leaves them three points behind Derek McInnes’ side.
Killie returned to the top flight in the summer, after replacing Dundee, who were relegated to the Championship.
Mackay believes the Premiership is showing up even stronger than last term, adding: “I think it shows the strength of this league.
“Last season people spoke about it being the strongest league in a long time with the big hitters back in the top division after having Hearts, Dundee United, Hibs and Rangers down in the Championship.
“This year I think it’s gone one step further, because Kilmarnock are back in and they are well-run, well-financed, they get a good attendance and they’re one of the bigger clubs in Scotland.
“We knew it was going to be a tough time again.
“Celtic and Rangers are always going to be the ones out in front and, at the moment, Hearts are having their issues with having to play on Thursdays and Sundays, the amount of travel and injuries they’ve had as well.
“That’s affected their ability to look as though they’re the third best team at the moment, but other than that, on any given day, I don’t think there’s one result that anybody is shocked by, because anything can happen.
“That makes for quite an interesting league.”
Staggies boss demands a clinical edge
Mackay feels a ruthless edge is required from the Staggies, who were unable to convert a number of chances that fell their way at Rugby Park.
He added: “What we’ve got to do is be clinical and take our chances.
“I was happy with last Saturday in terms of the amount of chances we created, but we have to make sure we’re actually putting the ball in the net.
“That’s something I see us doing in training daily, so as long as we keep creating those chances we’ll be fine.
“We ended up having 11 chances on their target, so we have to keep believing.
“If we can keep creating, eventually they will start going in.”
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