Win at Kilmarnock is vital to show Ross County progress
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Billy Mckay says Saturday’s trip to Kilmarnock is exactly the kind of match Ross County need to start winning.
The Staggies have struggled for results in the Premiership in recent months, only winning once since the opening two weeks of the campaign.
Fixtures do not get any easier for County either, with Rangers, Aberdeen and Celtic all on the calendar before Christmas.
Back-to-back victories in the Betfred Cup will have boosted confidence in Dingwall, though, as will the seven goals scored in 180 minutes.
So with just five points separating Dundee United in fifth and Livingston in sixth, Mckay wants to ensure the good times keep rolling at Rugby Park this weekend.
“In the last few years when we’ve played them we’ve had really tight games, and at the start of this season we drew against them as well so it will be evenly matched,” he said.
“We know what they are all about and how they will set up, but these are the games we need to be winning if we want to push up the league.
“We have to go there and try and get three points.
“We have had some tough games against them that has been settled by the odd goal or finished a draw.
“These are the teams we need to look at and the places we need to go to get three points if we are to push on.”
Going so long without a league run has seen the Staggies slide down the league table, and with the bottom two sides St Mirren and Hamilton having games in hand, the cushion between County and the relegation places could disappear quickly in theory.
Mckay is no stranger to being near the bottom of the table.
He was relegated four seasons in a row between 2015 and 2018 with Wigan Athletic, Dundee United, Inverness Caledonian Thistle and then at Ross County.
So he is well aware of what the danger signs can be in unsuccessful groups when morale plummets and dropping down a division seems inevitable.
The good thing for County though is that he does not get a sense of deja vu from the current set-up, far from it.
“Sometimes you get a feeling around the place, but it’s not like that here at the minute,” Mckay insisted.
“We’re looking forward, we’re all positive and together – I’ve been at other clubs before where it hasn’t been like that.
“It can be early on in the season, sometimes it’s after Christmas when you see the writing on the wall. Normally it starts off with changing the staff.
“It’s never positive when that happens, but we’re all together here and pushing in the same direction.
“We believe that we can go on a little run and get some good results in the Premiership.
“We obviously want to get away from the bottom of the table, and we need to start doing that on Saturday – and we have full confidence that we will.”
