David Cancola insists Ross County cannot look to last season for inspiration in their drive for success this term.
The Staggies have overcome a slow start to the campaign, with back-to-back wins over St Mirren and Hibernian moving them three points clear of the Premiership’s bottom spot ahead of the winter break.
County put in a brave performance in a narrow 2-1 loss to Celtic on Saturday, in their final match before the five-week lay-off.
The improved performances in recent weeks have prompted parallels to be drawn with the Staggies’ excellent turnaround last season.
After failing to win any of their opening 10 matches, Malky Mackay’s men went on to finish in the top six.
Mackay oversaw a rebuild of his Victoria Park squad this summer, with 10 new players arriving.
Cancola feels the current pool is beginning to create its own identity, but feels they must strive for fresh targets irrespective of last season’s achievements.
The Austrian midfielder said: “I see many similarities to last season. I think one of the hard parts was trying to replace players we lost last season – but that’s not possible in football. You have to find a new DNA.
“Maybe that took a bit longer than we were hoping but it seems like everything is starting to click and that is why I can’t wait to go again.
“But there is no point in looking back and saying we had that many points then and this many points now.
“We are just looking at ourselves this season. It’s a different league, with different opponents, so we’re just going game for game and trying to rack up as many points as possible.
“I think we can do very well again this season.”
Staggies approach Old Firm challenges with belief
Cancola’s penalty gave County the lead early in the second half at Parkhead.
The Staggies were unable to hold on, however, with goals from David Turnbull and Sead Haksabanovic securing the points for the runaway Premiership leaders.
Although Cancola drew much encouragement from his side’s performance, he was left disappointed at not taking anything from the game.
The 26-year-old added: “As crazy as it sounds, we’re not looking for hope against Rangers or Celtic.
“We come every time and have in our heads that we want to win. The manager is very good at installing that belief in us that we come here and we can win.
“We’re not just coming here hoping for penalties. We want to come and compete and give them a good game.
“It could look different from the outside but it felt like we might have had them this time and we could get a result but we switched off once or twice.
“A few seconds and it can change really quickly so it’s very frustrating but I think there are a lot of positives to take away.”
County are next in action on December 17, when they host St Johnstone.
Cancola is disappointed at not having the chance to continue his side’s recent momentum, but he aims to make the most of the World Cup shutdown.
He added: “It is a big opportunity but on the other hand we’re really getting on form now and we have played well.
“Me personally, I would love to just keep on going and play as much as we can. But on the other hand, it is also good to be able to get with your family and really recover for a bit.
“It’s not that long so we’ll be back playing very soon.”
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