Malky Mackay insists there will be no panic after Ross County dropped to the foot of the Premiership table.
A 3-0 defeat to Dundee United at Tannadice saw the home side leapfrog the Staggies into 11th position, in the final match of 2022.
County have now lost their last four matches on the bounce, and face a crucial trip to an out of sorts Aberdeen side at Pittodrie on Monday.
Mackay takes heart from the way his side has battled back from being bottom of the league in the past, and he firmly believes his current squad can do the same.
He said: “I can’t be too hard on my players in the way they have come here and played.
“We are not in a false position, we are where we should be because of the points we have.
“If we were not creating chances there would be more worry in my head.
“We just need to keep having that belief. We are a team that has been around that area before.
“There are no wild histrionics clamouring about a team that are sitting down there.
“We have been here before and we know the cause we have to pull together for.
“I do feel we are as good as four or five other teams in this division, and on any given day we have shown that.”
The Staggies fell behind to a Connor Randall own goal, before missing a succession of gilt-edged chances in the remainder of the first half.
United went on to triumph comfortably, through second half strikes by Charlie Mulgrew and Craig Sibbald.
Mackay says it could have been a far different outcome had his side been more clinical.
He added: “I thought it was fine margins the whole way in. It might sound laughable when we have been beaten 3-0.
“It was a poor first goal. For the next half hour we were terrific in the first half and had a lot of the ball, and got at them.
“We had three great chances in 15 minutes, that on another day we score. It could have been a different game.
“We lost a sloppy header but, again, I thought we came back well. We scored a goal to get back into it, and clearly VAR have it offside which it will be, but if it is off it is off by about an inch.”
Mackay took issue with referee Chris Graham’s decision to show Owura Edwards a late red card for a tussle with United left back Scott McMann, who he felt avoided punishment earlier in the game at a stage when he was already on a booking.
Mackay added: “What I am most upset about is the nature of the sending off.
“Hopefully he will learn the lesson for the rest of his career that you don’t lift your hands to somebody.
“I get it, as ten minutes before it McMann took him out when he was running away and cleaned his ankle out. For the life of me I can’t understand why that wasn’t a booking.
“He didn’t give a booking on it, which means 10 minutes later he’s able to pull Owura back to stop an attack again where he wouldn’t have been able to do that or he would have been off.
“Undoubtedly Owura reacts in real frustration because he has been at him all night, and not feeling there’s any punishment happening. I’m frustrated we’ve had a man sent off, when the left back should have been off before that.
“After that, the fine margins were the chances and goals.”
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