Ross County captain Connor Randall: Staggies have to start showing their quality on the pitch to avoid another relegation fight
Connor Randall says Ross County have to keep believing that they can turn their form around and rise back up the Premiership table.
It is not an unfamiliar situation for many of County’s players, including Randall, who managed to come through relegation play-offs in each of the last two seasons.
That may give them a unique perspective on what it will take to get out of their current predicament, and a resilience to know that they can escape danger.
Underpinning any surge in the second half of the campaign, then, must be belief in their ability to perform on the pitch.
"We have to be honest and look at ourselves and have honest conversations between ourselves as players,” Randall reasoned.
"We're on the pitch together, working towards the same goal. It's not about any individual – it's a team responsibility.
"We've been in these situations before and got out of it.
"We're just at Christmas, but we're not ignoring the situation. We realise where we are, and what we need to do to change it. That's what everyone at the club wants to do.
"At the same time it only takes a couple of good results to change your season around. We're looking at how, as a group, we get out of the position we're in.
"As I say, we've got enough quality within this squad to lift ourselves up the table. We've got to keep believing in that, but we have to show that on the pitch.”
What has been concerning to supporters is that any cushion County had earned over teams below them in the table has disappeared with their current run of form.
Only a couple of weeks ago, both Hibernian and this Sunday’s opponents Hearts, as well as St Johnstone, had ground to make up on the Staggies.
However, with no points to show for their efforts in recent weeks it is now only St Johnstone keeping County out of the automatic relegation zone.
"You don't want a gap between ourselves and the teams above us, as we've had in the last couple of seasons,” Randall added.
"Every season we come in looking to improve.
"If you get a few good results in this league, it can really turn your season around.
"That's what we've been trying to do, but it hasn't happened at the moment.
"We've dusted ourselves down from the weekend and we're ready for Dundee.
"We're going to give it everything we can to try and pick the points up on Thursday.”
