Two teams under increasing pressure to turn their season around will meet when Ross County make the trip to Motherwell on Saturday.
The Staggies go into the match three points adrift at the bottom of the Premiership, having lost five of their last six matches.
Saturday’s 2-0 reverse to Livingston was their fifth match without victory since the World Cup break, a period during which they have netted just one goal.
With that in mind, the opportunity to claw level on points with a similarly out of sorts Well side is one Malky Mackay will be desperate to make the most of.
The Steelmen have only recorded one win from their last 11 matches.
They have also not fared well at home, with only one triumph from nine games at Fir Park this term.
That said, Steven Hammell’s side will go into the match psychologically boosted by the fact they emphatically defeated the Staggies 5-0 in Dingwall in their only previous meeting this season.
County will hope one victory – particularly in such a crunch fixture – can provide their season with the springboard it very much needs.
They looked to be on course for that when they recorded back-to-back wins over St Mirren and Hibernian in November, before signing off for the winter break with a narrow 2-1 loss to Celtic.
In hindsight it looks as if the break came at the wrong time for Mackay’s men, however with a clear run-in until the end of the season, now is the time to find momentum.
Creating chances has not been the Staggies’ problem
It is no stretch to say that finding the net has been a major issue for the Staggies throughout the campaign.
Having netted just 14 goals in 21 fixtures this term, County are the lowest scorers in the Premiership.
The Dingwall outfit have not been short of creativity in recent weeks, having missed a number of gilt-edged chances at key stages in matches.
The graph above illustrates the tally of one goal in the five matches since the break is well below their expected goals rate of 3.49 during that period.
Of the 34 shots which have been produced by the Staggies, the colour chart below measures their xG rating.
Kazeem Olaigbe against St Johnstone, Owura Edwards against Dundee United, along with Ross Callachan and David Cancola in the loss to Livingston, are among those to have missed the most glaring opportunities.
With 428 minutes having now passed since Jordan White scored their last goal in the defeat to Saints on December 17, they will be eager to start applying the finishing touch from some of the promising positions they are finding.
Dhanda could be key asset if he returns from injury
The Staggies will hope to be boosted by the return of Yan Dhanda when they make the trip to Lanarkshire this weekend.
Attacking midfielder Dhanda was absent for the defeat to Livingston, with Mackay revealing he failed to shake off a hamstring injury he suffered in the days leading up to the game.
Although creating chances did not prove an issue for County on the day, Dhanda’s influence is one which can only help their cause.
The table below shows County’s key passes and assists statistics from the season so far.
Despite having played the 10th most minutes, Dhanda leads the way in County’s assists, xG assisted, key passes and open play assists tallies.
The Englishman has looked an increasingly shrewd acquisition since his summer move from Swansea City, with forward White having recently made reference to the quality of service he provides.
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