Ross County manager Jim McIntyre believes opposing teams are fearful of making the trip to Victoria Park – and he could not be happier.
The Staggies recorded their sixth win in eight home matches so far this season with two goals from Brian Graham giving the Highlanders a 2-0 win against Aberdeen in Dingwall on Friday.
McIntyre’s side put together an identical run from in the last eight home games of last season too, meaning they have won 12 and lost four of their last 16 games in front of their own supporters.
The County manager believes the strong home record his players have created has ensured opposing teams are now making the trip to the Highlands with an air of trepidation.
He said: “We’ve made Dingwall a hard place to come to since February. We’ve put on some good performances and we’ve also won ugly.
“There is no doubt the players have got a belief and a confidence that they can go and win matches at this level – we showed that against Aberdeen.
“We knew it would be a tough match but there were some great individual performances against Aberdeen.
“I was delighted with the performance as we wanted to bounce back from the derby defeat and we did it in style against a side that was top of the league.
“It shows the confidence the players are playing with at the moment and we have to be happy with the start we have made to the season.”
Friday’s win against the Dons briefly took County up to third in the Scottish Premiership but they dropped back to fourth after Hearts leapfrogged them courtesy of their 1-0 win at Dundee United on Sunday.
The two teams meet this weekend at Tynecastle where victory for the Staggies will take them above Robbie Neilson’s side.
The league campaign is only 11 matches old but McIntyre believes his players can consign the club’s recent struggles at the bottom of the division to history and has urged his players to focus on achieving a top half finish this season.
He said: “Our target from the start of the season has been the top six and we’ve made a good start in our attempt to achieve that.
“We’re in a good position now but the target hasn’t changed and we know there’ll be ups and downs.
“Friday was a good night for us and we enjoyed our win but the focus is now on the trip to Hearts.”