Don Cowie reckons Ross County’s strong Dingwall form gives him reason to believe they can stun Rangers for a second time this year.
The Staggies’ manager, whose side are eighth in the Premiership, host third-placed Gers in the Highlands this Sunday lunchtime.
Rangers, who beat County 6-0 at Hampden in August, dished out the same thrashing to Kilmarnock on Wednesday night at Ibrox and are only now four points behind Aberdeen with a game to spare.
County are going into the weekend on the back of a 5-0 defeat at leaders Celtic, but a line has been drawn under that, and the focus is very much on how to beat Rangers.
When the teams last met in Dingwall, in April this year, Cowie’s players rallied from one goal down to win 3-2. It was the north club’s first-ever victory over Rangers.
Of County’s 15 league points this term, 12 have come at the Global Energy Stadium, while Philippe Clement’s Gers have lost three of their six away fixtures.
New players have settled in Dingwall
Cowie said: “Our group has changed slightly in terms of the squad that played in that game (against Rangers in April).
“But what we’ve done is we’ve continued that good performance and results at home since that game.
“I think I’ve got a team that feels really comfortable playing here in Dingwall. We make it really difficult for whoever comes and that needs to be the foundation of this football club.
“We look to try and continue that this week, despite playing against a top team.”
Live TV fixture is showcase chance
Cowie accepts it’s rare that you play the Old Firm back-to-back, but he hopes Rangers having a midweek match might work in his squad’s favour.
He said: “It doesn’t happen too often. It is just the way the fixtures have come out. You deal with it.
“Despite the disappointment of last Saturday, we now go into a game we’re really looking forward to.
“We know Rangers are a really good team. They have shown, especially in Europe, how strong they can be.
“They played midweek and will now be turning their thoughts to Sunday.
“We will look to present the best version of ourselves, which we didn’t do last week.
“It is a challenge playing every three or four days.
The (Rangers) squad gets challenged in terms of the number of games they play, so we have to try and use that to our advantage by having a good week’s training, making sure we create a game plan that gives us a chance to get a positive result here.
“It is no hidden secret, we’ve taken the majority of our points at home. We’ve been really strong for a long period of time here and we have real belief no matter who we play in Dingwall.
“It is always a big game in terms of being live on TV, with the spotlight on it. The players have risen to that occasion many times and Sunday is another opportunity to do that.”
‘We’re difficult to stop in Dingwall’
Cowie doesn’t see any real reason to make wholesale changes to his set-up going into the Rangers clash, despite the heavy defeat at Celtic Park.
He added: “I don’t think there’s a change too much tactically or personnel-wise. You saw last Saturday, the team I selected was very similar to what we have been playing anyway.
“It is just that naturally, when at home, you have that belief.
“Going away to Celtic and playing in front of 60,000 the support they have and the momentum they draw from it when playing well is difficult to stop – just like we’re difficult to stop here in Dingwall.
“That’s where the mentality is – there’s more belief within the group.”
Goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw’s knee injury, which is to keep him out for eight to 10 weeks, means Jack Hamilton will be between the sticks. Defender Kacper Lopata will be missing due to a back injury.
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