Ross County cannot sit back on past wins says manager John Hughes
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John Hughes believes Ross County cannot afford to sit back on previous results when Hibernian travel north tomorrow.
The Staggies defeated Hibs 2-0 in Edinburgh at the end of December, marking Hughes’ first win after taking over in Dingwall.
County also saw off Aberdeen in impressive fashion, running out 4-1 winners on home turf.
Those games cannot be used as a template for another three points tomorrow though, according to Hughes, as no two matches are the same.
Instead, it is up to him to make sure the County squad are drilled well enough that there will be no surprises coming from the Hibees.
“Every game is different,” Hughes said.
“Against Aberdeen we were more counter-attacking, whereas against Hamilton we dominated the ball, and it was up to us to take the game to them.
“We have to respect who we’re playing against. Hibs have better players than us, that’s why they’re third.
“That doesn’t mean we can’t win the game, they had better players when we played at Easter Road, and we picked their pockets.
“It’s up to us to come up with a game plan and work hard on it throughout the week, so that when we go out on Saturday the players feel like they have played this game before, they know what’s going to happen.
“That’s my job, to get them in that mindset so that when the game starts, they’re not going to get found out, there will be no surprises.”
Hibs was not the first time this season County have upset the odds, with the 2-0 win away at Celtic in the Betfred Cup sure to live long in the memories of fans.
It could be said that the Staggies enjoy being the underdogs, but Hughes is confident his side can play whatever style is required to pick up points.
“We’ve found that when we can sit in a wee bit, and make the other team force the game, we’re a better team for it,” he said.
“No matter how the game goes on Saturday, we’re going to have to have a bit of oomph in our game.
“At Easter Road, we had six passes without a Hibs player touching the ball before it went in the back of their net – I don’t think that will happen on Saturday.
“In the second half, we were more on the counter- attack, and I’d like to think we could transition into both. If we have to go and play, we can, and if we have to sit in and go on the counter-attack we can do that too.
“No matter who we play, there will be times where we come under the cosh, and that’s where we have to stay strong and stick together. That’s okay as long as we’re effective on the turnover.”
