Ross Laidlaw insists Ross County cannot afford to dwell on the disappointment of failing to secure automatic Premiership survival ahead of their play-off with Raith Rovers.
The Staggies had Premiership safety within their grasp when they led against St Johnstone last Wednesday, only for the Perth side to take it to the final day with a late equaliser.
On Sunday’s final day, Saints’ victory over Motherwell, coupled with County drawing 2-2 with Aberdeen, saw them leapfrog the Staggies into 10th-place on goal difference.
It means County must face a play-off for the second season in succession, following their penalty shoot-out triumph over Partick Thistle last term.
They will face Championship runners-up Raith at Stark’s Park on Thursday, before welcoming the Kirkcaldy outfit to Dingwall on Sunday.
Despite coming so close to staving off the threat of relegation, goalkeeper Laidlaw says the Staggies must quickly lift themselves.
Laidlaw said: “We spoke about it after the game, and a few boys were disappointed.
“But there’s no point in feeling sorry for ourselves. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves going into these two games.
“They are going to be right up for it, so we need to be right up for it as well.
“What has happened is in the past now, we just need to look forward to these two games.
“We need to get the disappointment out of the system, come back in and be ready for these two big games.”
County well versed on play-off drama following memorable Jags tie
Last summer, County were forced to stage a thrilling comeback which saw them claw back a three-goal deficit against Partick before triumphing on penalties.
Laidlaw is among several players who remain at Victoria Park from the memorable victory, and he aims to make the most of that previous play-off experience.
The 31-year-old added: “A lot of the players played in the play-off games last year, so they have that experience to draw back on.
“Obviously, we know it’s going to be a difficult game. Raith Rovers have got a lot of good players, they have been on a good run of form and nearly won the league.
“It’s going to be two extremely difficult games. We need to get ourselves recovered and look forward to Thursday.
“There’s high pressure, they will be right up for it when we go away from home, and then we’ve got the second leg here.
“It’s important we work on the gameplan, and study what they do. A lot of the boys have seen the play-off games and watched Raith throughout the season on the Friday night games, so we know a lot of their players.
“It’s going to be an interesting week.”
Staggies remain on right track under interim boss Cowie
Laidlaw feels the Staggies remain in a strong place under Don Cowie, who took a haul of 16 points from 15 games after taking interim charge in February.
He added: “I think we are playing well under Don.
“It’s hard to say, with it being a different squad, but we have played quite well in these games since the manager came in.
“We have belief in him, and belief as a group that we can go and do it.
“There were a couple of late disappointments – with the St Johnstone game as well.
“We are just disappointed we never quite saw it out, but it’s football.
“Hopefully our luck will change in these play-off games.
“These things happen, and we just need to go and show character to hopefully get the results in these next two games.”
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