'We have to put in a performance for them' – Malky Mackay wants players to reward Ross County fans for recent travels with a stellar performance against Celtic in Dingwall
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Malky Mackay has impressed on his players the importance of repaying travelling Ross County supporters' dedication to their cause over the last two weeks.
The Staggies covered over 1000 miles in seven days thanks to away games at Dundee, Motherwell and Hibernian – taking three draws for their points tally.
Now, Mackay and his squad can finally look forward to a return to Dingwall this weekend when defending champions Celtic come calling at the Global Energy Stadium.
The County boss is keen for his players to pay fans back for their recent efforts with a top performance in the Highlands.
"When Celtic and Rangers come up, it certainly makes for a really good atmosphere in the stadium," Mackay reasoned.
"I think for our fans, there is an extra bit of excitement in the town, and for the ones who come to the game there is a certain atmosphere bouncing around it.
"I'm just glad to get back to Dingwall so that our fans can see our team again. 178 hardy souls were down at Easter Road, and I'm absolutely amazed and delighted that they came.
"There will be people who travelled down the A9, into rush-hour traffic in Edinburgh, went to the game and waited behind for us, and then they were in traffic getting out of Edinburgh to find that the Forth Road Bridge was closed to cars.
"You had people taking a diversion through Stirling to get back up north again, which is incredible, and I take my hat off to them because I have so much admiration for our fans with the distances they had to travel. Most of the probably had to get up in the morning to get to work too.
"That's what we touched on with the players – what the day looked like for our supporters on Tuesday.
"They had to get time off work, plan their journey, pay to get down somehow, pay to eat and drink during the day, find somewhere to park and get to the game then deal with the roadworks coming back up the road and going to work the next morning.
"You look at that and think that's one of the reasons we have to run hard in matches, because you've got people paying good money and taking time out of their lives that's uncomfortable for them to watch us. We have to put a performance in for them."
Fans should not expect to see Josh Sims (back) or Josh Reid (foot) in the County squad, with both players estimated to be a week away from injury comebacks.
Similarly, Jay Henderson is expected to miss another month after injuring his hamstring in the North of Scotland Cup against Brora, but Will Nightingale made a welcome return to action against Hibernian on Tuesday night.
