Malky Mackay: Scotland's win over Spain should give Ross County confidence to face Celtic
Malky Mackay believes Scotland's win over Spain earlier this week should fuel Ross County's believe that they can pull off a similar shock against Celtic on Sunday.
Steve Clarke's national side recorded a 2-0 win despite having just 25 per cent of possession against the 2010 and 2014 world champions.
All three matches between Ross County and Celtic this season have seen a similar disparity, but Mackay does not think that should discourage his players.
Instead, he says Scotland proved that it is still possible to get a good result when the opposition have most of the ball – as long as everyone does their jobs defensively off it.
"Tactically, there are ways of playing games," Mackay explained.
"Clearly, Spain are one of the best possession sides in the world. Steve had his tactics to play against Spain and it can be similar at times when you play against the Old Firm.
"We did the exact same thing when I was at Cardiff against Manchester City, and we beat them. It doesn't always confer that when you have possession of the ball, you win the game, lots of factors come into it.
"You know when you play against Celtic, in general, they will have a lot of the ball. You have to be patient and calm out of possession.
"You have to be comfortable not having the ball. That's the case when you play the top two and that's what I have preached over the last 18 months as far as my team is concerned – be patient out of possession."
Getting a positive result would be something of a bonus for County in their fight to avoid relegation.
It is finely poised near the bottom, with three points separating Dundee United, the Staggies and Kilmarnock.
Mackay, though, would not rule out the teams just above like Motherwell and St Johnstone getting dragged back into danger given everyone will have to play each other again post-split.
"I don't think it's becoming a three-horse race because of the fact that we all play each other once the split happens," he added.
"I think if anybody was foolish enough to say that it's only about Dundee United, Ross County and Kilmarnock, then you haven't watched a lot of football.
"Runs happen at any point in the league, and pressure comes on at the end of the season – lots of different factors come into play, especially when you move into those final five games.
"For now, I'm just starting straight at the team that's in front of our face."