Ross County boss Malky Mackay is refusing to read too much into the problems encountered by Saturday’s opponents Hearts.
The Jambos have lost their last six matches in succession, which has caused them to fall five points adrift of third-placed Aberdeen.
The downturn in form prompted the dismissal of Robbie Neilson as manager, with Steven Naismith now in interim post until the end of the season.
Mackay still regards the Edinburgh outfit as one of the country’s leading sides, and anticipates no less of a challenge when his side makes the trip to Tynecastle.
He said: “It will be tough, as always. They have been a very stable club, well-structured, well-organised, with stable management and stable ownership.
“Steven Naismith is in as interim manager. They have an injury or two and Craig Gordon is always a big miss when he is not playing in Scottish football, no matter who it is for.
“They are a strong club and we’ve always enjoyed our games against them since I’ve been here – they’ve been tight and entertaining.
“Even at the start of the season, I thought we were excellent down there.
“I’m looking forward to it, but I know it is going to be tough no matter what their situation is just now.”
County have suffered near misses against Hearts
Although County have not taken points from the Jambos this season, the Staggies have performed strongly in both matches before going on to lose 2-1 on each occasion.
The Staggies were particularly unfortunate on the opening day of the season, when they were unable to capitalise on a dominant first half display.
Although the Staggies sit bottom of the Premiership, ahead of their final pre-split fixture, Mackay insists his players should make the trip to the capital with no shortage of belief.
He added: “It gives you confidence knowing that you have played well at a ground. It makes a difference to a player when he enjoys going to a ground.
“Games against them have been nip and tuck with chances. We just need to make sure we take them.
“We want to make sure we’re in touch with everything going into those last five games.
“It’s an important one for us.
“We then get into the nip and tuck of teams around about us. We’ve played a few of them recently and been in good form.”
Mackay expects to have defender Alex Iacovitti, midfielder David Cancola and forward Jordy Hiwula back among his squad.
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