Ross County have won only two of their last 13 away games (losing nine of them) but captain Keith Watson claims that they’ll settle for nothing less than victory when they travel to Firhill to face Partick Thistle in the first leg of their Premiership play-off final on Thursday.
Thistle have scored 16 goals in their four play-off successes against Quenn’s Park and Ayr United while County finished their league campaign with a 3-1 defeat at Kilmarnock on Sunday.
However, Watson insists there is no lack of confidence in the Highlanders’ camp ahead of the most important matches of their campaign.
“We just didn’t quite hit the levels that we know we can reach to get the win at Rugby Park,” said the defender. “We’re disappointed, but we need to put it to bed because we’ve got two massive games coming up against Thistle.
“They are going to be really up for it and we need to make sure we match their approach. We’re not down. We have two games left to save our season and we’ll be giving it everything we’ve got.
“A few of the boys have been watching Thistle. I’ve kept an eye on them because I like watching a bit of football in my spare time anyway.
“I also know a few of the Partick boys so I realise it’s going to be a difficult game. They’ve been flying recently but we’re going into this confident and fancying our chances.”
Thistle have lost only one of their 17 matches under Kris Doolan and are unbeaten in their last ten but Watson is unconcerned by their rivals’ momentum.
“They’re on a decent run, because they’ve had to win games to get to the final,” he claimed. “Going into the split we were four points adrift at the bottom: we just fell short on the last day.
“I don’t think we’re on poor form by any means. We’ve been picking up results recently, it’s not as though we haven’t been playing very well. The boys know what’s at stake.”
Watson will be up against Thistle’s leading scorer Brian Graham in the two legs and he’s looking forward to shutting out the 20-goal striker he played alongside with Dundee United and County.
“I know Brian well and get on with him really well,” he said. “He knows what I’m about and I know what he’s about. It’ll be a good battle but when you’re on that pitch friendship goes out the window: it’s all about getting the wins.
“He’s not the quietest. He’s quite aggressive and mouthy but I’ve dealt with him before in games and in training. There is plenty of fight and effort in our team."
