Ross County’s season climax ‘scarily’ close as Don Cowie pledged Staggies will not let final run of Premiership matches drift by
Don Cowie admits it is “scary” that the end of the season is coming into sight – but insists that will only strengthen Ross County’s resolve to put more points on the board in the coming weeks.
The Staggies travel to Motherwell this Saturday knowing that they are both five points away from the top half and bottom of the table St Johnstone.
Margin of error quickly evaporates at this stage of the campaign, too, with every league position won or lost increasingly likely to be a club’s final one in 2024/25.
For County, there is an opportunity over the next month or so to rise multiple places up the table.
That is because their three matches following Motherwell are against the other three sides that currently occupy the bottom four in the Premiership.
Cowie, then, will be demanding the Staggies make the most of their opportunities, starting with their trip to Fir Park this weekend.
"The games are running out and you know how important each game is,” Cowie reasoned.
"It's scary that there are only 13 games to go. It is important we don't let each game drift by, so we have to make an impression in each game.
“We’ve spoken to the players about the importance of this run of games that we’re going into. We have our own destination in our hands, and it’s up to us to go and grab the opportunity that we’ve got now.
“This is where it really counts, and you’ve got to stand up to it and really try to be as consistent as possible to collect as many points as you can.
“We’ve got a run of games where winning games can have a huge impact, but if we don’t it can have a really negative effect.
“I’m looking at the positive side, but it’s easy saying it, you have to go and act on it. That starts this week against a really good side in Motherwell.
“They are going through a challenging period with their managerial situation, but they still rightfully sit sixth in the league this year.”
In some ways, Ross County are in a very similar position to this time last year.
Then, Cowie had just taken interim charge of a side battling relegation. Now, the Staggies once again sit 11th, but the difference is that the division is far more congested this time around.
That means both that County have actually earned seven more points than at the same stage last season, and that more sides above them are well within reach.
“We’re in a much better place than we were this time last year, but we need to be because of how competitive the league is,” Cowie added.
“Last year the Old Firm teams and Hearts took the majority of points off the rest of the league, but that hasn’t been the case this year.
“That means everyone else is cramped together beneath the top two, so we have needed to be better, but we’ve got a real opportunity to build on the points total we have right now to get to where we want to be at the end of the season.
“These are still really challenging games, they are fixtures we've been really competitive in this season, and picked up the majority of our points in. We've not taken anything from the Old Firm.
"Where we are is down to what we've taken against the rest of the sides in the league. That has to give us real belief going into this period – but that's not us taking it lightly, or thinking we just need to turn up.
"We must be ready and try to accumulate as many points as we can over the next six to eight games to see where we are going into the split.”
