Ross County manager Derek Adams sees the visit of Dundee as another opportunity to make further gains on the Premiership top half.
The Staggies sit in eighth position, with a victory over the Dark Blues enough for them to leapfrog their opponents who are a point ahead of them at present.
Although County are six points behind sixth-placed Hearts, Adams has been heartened by his recently-inherited players’ desire to put pressure on the teams above them since he took charge last month.
He said: “We’re striving to close the gap between ourselves and the teams in the top six, we’ve done that so far.
“We’ve taken seven out of nine points at home and this is another Saturday game where we have the potential to move forward.
“I’m always confident in the players’ ability to bounce back. We’ve got a group who want to do well and succeed.
“We showed that in the Motherwell game where we played ever so well to get the three goals and the three points against a team close to us in the table.
“We’re just looking at the next game and trying to push on. Look at Kilmarnock managing to beat Celtic – it’s a really tough league – and we took a point from Kilmarnock.
“I’m still assessing the squad but the players have managed to work ever so hard so far.”
Staggies aiming to continue strong home form
Adams expects a tough challenge against Tony Docherty’s side, who have impressed since winning promotion back to the top flight.
The Staggies boss has urged his side to make the most of home advantage, having been undefeated in three Dingwall fixtures since he replaced Malky Mackay in the dugout.
He added: “Going into this game, we’re up against a Dundee team that has done well this season since getting promoted.
“I watched Dundee against Motherwell in the 3-3 game and they’ve done very well. They were unfortunate not to get something from Ibrox.
“We’re at home again – and we’ve done really well at home.
“We’ve got to do as we have done in previous matches and take the game to the opposition.
“Last weekend against St Mirren, we didn’t do so well in the game but could have still taken something from it.”
County have Will Nightingale back from suspension, while Eamonn Brophy and Jay Henderson have had a full week of training having returned to the bench for last weekend’s 2-0 loss to St Mirren.
Teenage defender Dylan Smith will miss out after suffering an ankle injury against the Buddies, with Adams revealing he will undergo a scan to determine the extent of it.
Adams added: “We don’t have a timeline at this moment in time.
“He’s going to go for a scan this week to find out the extent of the ankle injury.
“It’s one that he’s had before, so we want to really make sure we find out what’s wrong with him.”
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