Ross County manager Jim McIntyre has challenged his players to rise to their biggest game of the season today when the Staggies take on Motherwell at Fir Park.
County are six points ahead of the 11th-placed Steelmen going into today’s encounter, with the opportunity to open up a nine-point gap with a victory.
That would leave County needing just a point from their remaining three games to fend off the possibility of finishing in the relegation play-off position.
McIntyre knows what is at stake and is desperate to secure a victory.
The County manager said: “Performances go out the window and it’s all about getting a result. That’s the be-all and end-all.
“The points are all that matter for both teams and there is pressure on us both.
“If Motherwell win, the gap goes back to three points and makes it a bit more nervous for us in the last couple of games. If we win, we’re in a very strong position.
“It’s the biggest game of the season for us.
“Motherwell’s home form has been excellent. They’ve been very strong and scored a lot of goals. We know we’re in for a very tough afternoon.”
County’s 2-1 defeat by Partick Thistle last week ended an excellent unbeaten run of eight wins from nine matches. McIntyre is confident his players can offer an instant response.
McIntyre added: “Last week is in the waste bucket, we need to learn from it.
“We underperformed but the boys have been looking good in training this week and are ready for the match.
“We’ve been the form team in the league, so the players’ confidence levels haven’t been affected by last week. We’ve never been over-confident, we’ve been working extremely hard to win matches.
“We do not have a divine right to keep winning, as we saw last week against Partick. Both clubs are looking to bounce back from defeats.”