Ross County open their Premiership post-split campaign with a trip to relegation rivals Kilmarnock this weekend.
The Staggies have needed a play-off to secure their top-flight status in each of the last two years, and are only a point ahead of 11th-placed Dundee with five games remaining.
County, who occupy 10th at present, are below Saturday’s opponents on goal difference.
The two sides sit in something of a middleground, with five points separating them from seventh-placed Hearts, but equally only six points clear of bottom side St Johnstone.
We pick out some of the talking points covered by Staggies boss Don Cowie in his weekly press briefing.
On opening the post-split campaign away to Kilmarnock on Saturday:
“We know where we are in the season, and what’s coming in the next five games.
“It starts with Kilmarnock, a very difficult one and a tough venue to go to.
“They’ve got a really strong home record, so they’ll see it as a good opportunity to get off to a good start in this mini-league that we go into.
“We’ve just got to go and embrace that challenge.
“I think anyone that was at the previous games against Kilmarnock would see that there was not a lot in the matches.
“We won every game by the odd goal, so I think either team could have come out on top in the matches.
“It’s making sure you’re the team that comes out on top, and that’s the challenge for the group.
On last year’s experience of avoiding relegation through the play-offs:
“It’s a reference point for some of us that were here last season.
“It’s an important time of the season, there’s no hiding away from that. We recognise how tight it is, but then, as I always say, it’s just about us concentrating on ourselves.
“Every team in the bottom half is in control of their own destiny.
“They’ve got five matches. If you deal with your five matches, you stay in the league. It’s really as simple as that.
“I think that’s the clarity that we have as a group going into this spell that we’ve got.
On the Staggies’ recent form:
“We’re disappointed with the run of results that we’ve had recently. We’re going into five games, against teams that we’ve done well against this season.
“Our points tally has been good. Again, it means we’ve got a good experience of playing against these teams. But it’s a different time of the season now.
“There’s more at stake. It’s about trying to block that out as much as you can when you cross that white line.
“Seeing it as a game of football, you want to go and play well and win a game of football.
On County’s post-split fixtures:
“I don’t think we were ever going to get three home matches because we’ve already played 17 home games and 16 away.
“When we went into the split after our game against St Mirren, I think we all recognised that we would probably have to go to St Johnstone, Hearts or Motherwell for the third time.
“That was just the way it was going to work out. It just so happens that St Johnstone is the game that we have to go to again for the third time.
“We’ve just got to deal with it. It’s part of it. I believe Motherwell have got 18 home games and 20 away, so they’ve definitely fallen the wrong side of the fixture list.
“It’s just trying to make the best of a bad situation for the league in terms of getting it as even as they can.
On the latest team news:
“Everyone is good, except for the two long-term injuries in Ryan Leak and Noah Chilvers.
“Young Andrew MacLeod has got a niggly groin injury that’s kept him out for the last few weeks and probably will keep him out for the foreseeable future.
“But apart from that, everyone is fit and ready to go.”
Conversation