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Ross County manager Neale Cooper hopes his players will start to take some of the chances they have been creating when they head for Stark's Park today and a crack at last week's Caley Thistle conquerors Raith Rovers.
Cooper was in positive mood last night as he looks for his first win in First Division football.
He said: "I thought we played well in the first half against Livingston in midweek when we created loads of chances and, although it is encouraging to create them, we really must start to tuck some of them away.
"We need a cutting edge to our performance, while keeping it tight at the back, although we realise that you normally don't get many scoring chances in the First Division."
County's squad will be stretched to the limit for the trip to Fife with former Hearts striker Derek Holmes still out with a knee injury and Craig Taggart out with an ankle knock.
French midfielder Frank Escalon has a blistered foot and must be classed as doubtful, as is striker George Shaw (throat infection).
Cooper has had to add midfielder Darren Henderson to the travelling party, although he is still recovering from a virus.
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Ross County captain Brian Irvine has called on his teammates to show more team spirit to help the Dingwall side out of its current predicament.
County sit bottom of the First Division with only one point after their opening four league games.
The latest setback came at Stark's Park on Saturday when goals from Steve Tosh, Jay Stein, Alex Burns and Ivan Mballa gave Raith Rovers a convincing victory.
County's only crumb of consolation was a second-half goal from Alex Bone.
Despite the poor start, Irvine is confident that County can turn things round. He said: "We played well in patches on Saturday but were not taking our chances and were not defending well.
"We have to improve more as a unit rather than individually. Everybody seems to be looking after their own game. It is times like this that you need a good team spirit. The manager is trying to build that into the team but it takes time because we have a lot of new players.
"Since the start of the season we have been playing twice a week so we haven't had the time to work at things in training with the players who are commuting from the South.
"Hopefully, we can work on that in the next few weeks because team spirit is important to every side. If you get players to work and play for one another then that gives you the platform you need to build from."
Former Scotland defender Irvine refuses to panic over the Dingwall situation because he has seen it all before.
"I was in the same position in my last season with Dundee. We had lost our first three matches and then we got a draw against Celtic," he added.
"We ended up finishing fifth that season. The important thing is not to panic. We have played only four games and we still have 32 games left.
"It will be a problem if we don't get a few points over the next two or three games. We don't want to become detached and, to be fair, we are only one win away from the rest of the pack.
"At the start of the season we were looking to establish ourselves in the league like Caley Thistle did last year. We haven't had the best of starts but we must try and turn the situation to our advantage."
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Ross County manager Neale Cooper believes his side's debut season in the First Division will be kick-started when they secure their first three points, hopefully against Morton at Cappielow this afternoon.
Before setting off for an over-night stop in Glasgow, Cooper said: "There are no easy games in the First Division as I'm sure Steve Paterson will agree, but we've been creating chances without taking them and we need to build on the good things we've been doing while making sure that we keep it tight at the back.
"Although we lost 4-1 to Raith Rovers last week, the scoreline flattered the Kirkcaldy side and I'm sure if we start to convert some of the chances we've been creating we'll get that all-important first win on the board.
"However, the Morton game will be a tricky one for us as they're coming off the back of a really impressive 4-0 win at Clyde but we've been working hard in training all week and the spirit is tremendous in the camp at the moment."
He added: "Darren Henderson is now fit and comes into contention for a place in the squad – as is Frank Escalon, who has returned from Paris after undergoing tests and is feeling an awful lot better in himself.
"Morton will be in high spirits after the Clyde result."
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Neale Cooper's First Division new boys intend to add to Caley Thistle's recent woes after picking up their maiden First Division victory last Saturday, courtesy of Alex Bone's winner at Cappielow, which lifted County above their Inverness rivals in the league table.
Cooper acknowledges his side's pre-match underdog billing, but he believes his side proved at Cappielow that it is learning fast.
He said: "The win over Morton was brilliant for our morale. The atmosphere in the dressing room after the final whistle was tremendous and it's carried over on to the training ground this week.
"On Saturday, we'll be up against a side which has a year's experience of life in the First Division, but we've broken our duck now with a superb all-round performance at Cappielow and we want to build on that."
County's lengthy casualty list continues to shorten by the day with striker Derek Holmes, who has missed three games with a knee injury, back in training yesterday while John McQuade's hip knock is responding to treatment.
Craig Taggart, who has a deep-seated ankle knock, looks likely to be Cooper's only absentee on Saturday.
"Games against Caley Thistle are always special and this one couldn't really come at a better time for us," said Cooper, who would love to leave Caledonian Stadium still looking down the table at Saturday's hosts.
"It's a massive game for both clubs and we'll be going into it determined to be strong, aggressive and positive."
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As derby fever mounts in the North, Ross County striker Alex Bone revealed he cannot wait for tomorrow's derby against Caley Thistle to kick-off.
Bone said: "I'm really looking forward to the game as I've always enjoyed playing in local derby matches, such as the St Mirren-Morton and Stirling Albion-Alloa Athletic games, but this one is shaping up to be one of the best.
"The people up here really enjoy their football. They may not make as much noise as others during the game, but there should be a tremendous atmosphere with a full house expected at Caledonian Stadium.
"Every player wants to play in front of big crowds and the fact that this is a local derby will no doubt give the game an extra edge."
Bone scored the goal which gave the Dingwall men their first Division 1 victory, against Morton at Cappielow last week, but the 28-year-old revealed he is only doing his job by finding the back of the net.
He said: "I was bought to score goals for Ross County and I'll be doing my best to do that in every game I play for the club, but we do know how important this derby game against Caley Thistle is to our supporters.
"The fans up here seem to have taken to me and seem to like my style of play. I have been getting the credit for scoring the goals, but the whole team has been working really hard and the spirit in the camp has been tremendous all season.
"Our fans have been really supportive towards myself and the rest of the side and we hope to give them something back on Saturday afternoon."
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Ross County manager Neale Cooper last night gave a strong indication that George Shaw's immediate future hangs in the balance after the former Dunfermline Athletic striker disappeared on a family trip to north Wales while his teammates were losing 4-1 at Raith Rovers three weeks ago.
Shaw had complained of a throat infection on the eve of the Stark's Park clash and was advised by the County manager to go home and rest up to aid his recovery, but instead headed further south for a weekend break in Wales.
Cooper said: "I'm really disappointed in George, especially as he has not only let himself down but, more importantly, his colleagues on the park and, of course, the chairman and myself.
"We went to the game at Raith Rovers with only 14 fit players in the squad while Darren Henderson and Frank Escalon, who were far from 100%, had to go on the bench.
"George told me that he had a throat infection on the Friday and I immediately advised him to go home Glasgow and go to bed to try and shake it off.
"On the Sunday morning, I was notified that George was, in fact, not at home but had gone to north Wales for the weekend and although we tried to contact him there was apparently no one at home.
"The fact that George kept denying the whole thing and accused me of doubting his honesty and integrity until the Thursday following the game, when he finally admitted he had gone to Wales, only makes things worse.
"I would like to dispel any malicious rumours that there is any disharmony in the Ross County camp, although there may be a bit of antagonism from the rest of the squad to George after recent events.
"The lads have regrouped and are pulling together brilliantly and have done since the start of the season as anyone who has been to any of our games will have seen for themselves.
"The spirit in the camp is brilliant and the will to win could be seen in our back-to-back wins against Morton and the Caley Thistle last Saturday."
Cooper added: "This is all part of the learning curve for me as a manager. George Shaw is down south at the moment but we are expecting him at the ground later this week and we'll then have a face-to-face discussion to get to the bottom of this whole incident and only then will we see where we go from here."
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Ross County have made a bold bid to take former Scotland and Rangers striker Gordon Durie to Dingwall on a short-term contract.
The Dingwall men hope to attract Durie before he goes to Australia to continue his footballing career.
The go-ahead County manager Neale Cooper is never afraid to try something different and only last season landed former Rangers and England striker Mark Hateley on a pay-per-play basis.
That move ended prematurely when the big Englishman failed to make an impression in the Second Division but it demonstrated Ross County's ambition. Cooper said last night: "I spoke to Gordon Durie's agent today. The player has not yet gone to Australia and has been training regularly at Ibrox. He is obviously fairly fit and could certainly do a job for us at Dingwall.
"We are aware that there are other clubs who are interested in him but I suppose there is an outside chance that he could feature in the squad for Saturday's home game against Falkirk."
Cooper added: "Things are very much in the initial stages and money has not even been talked about yet but by the end of tomorrow we should have a clearer picture of what is happening."
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Ross County aim for a third First Division win on the trot this afternoon against Falkirk at Victoria Park.
Last night manager Neale Cooper was waiting to hear if he has been successful in his ambitious bid to lure former Scotland, Chelsea and Rangers striker Gordon 'Jukebox' Durie to County.
However, two Premier League sides are also chasing Durie.
Cooper said: "Now that Hearts and St Mirren have entered the race to sign big Gordon we will have to wait and see which direction he chooses, but I'm still hopeful that he may come to Dingwall.
"We have had to battle to take full points from our last two away games at Morton and Caley Thistle and it would be nice to reward our tremendous support from last week's game with a more attack-minded performance at home to Falkirk.
"However, Alex Totten has an excellent side with a lot of good players in its ranks and we will have to make sure we keep it tight at the back again.
"I might freshen things up a little against Falkirk and we know we can play better than we did last week, but football is a funny game and even when you're not at your best you can still take points."
Meanwhile, Falkirk boss Totten has warned his Bairns that teams will be out to get them this season.
Totten was disappointed to take just a point at home to Alloa in the league last week and knows that lesser sides are raising their game against his men. He said: "Teams look at our record over the past few seasons and probably see us as one of the best teams in the league and want to have a go at us.
"The players have to accept that and show the proper attitude, but we allowed ourselves to lose an early goal against Alloa which handed them the initiative and left us chasing the game.
"Ross County will be relishing playing us at home for the first time in the league and the players know that they have to do much better than they did against Alloa."
The Bairns could have Greig Denham on the bench after the player recovered from knee surgery earlier than expected.
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Striker Andy Smith has joined Ross County on loan from Kilmarnock.
The 31-year-old former Highland League player moves to Dingwall just a week after the First Division outfit lost out to Hearts in the race for Rangers striker Gordon Durie.
Ross boss Neale Cooper hopes the former Dunfermline and Airdrie frontman can provide the goal threat his side have been missing.
Cooper said: "It's a great bonus for us after missing out on Gordon Durie last week. Derek Holmes has been out with a back injury and Alex Bone has been ploughing a bit of a lone furrow up front.
"We've not been scoring a lot of goals and last week against Falkirk we had a lot of balls going into the box without getting on the end of them.
"Bobby Williamson has been great with us and we've not had to break our wage structure to bring Andy here, although we will be contributing to his wages.
"Kilmarnock have been doing so well this season that he's found it difficult to get into their side.
"Hopefully, though, he can do well for us, score a few goals and remind everyone else that he's still about."
Smith will go straight into the County starting line-up for this afternoon's match against Alloa at Victoria Park (KO 3pm).
The hosts will also have Eddie Cunnington available after suspension, but Craig Taggart won't be ready, although he has resumed training again after a seven-week lay-off.
The Alloa Wasps are set to give Grant Johnston his first start after his move from Clydebank, but frontman Chris Wood is still struggling after tonsillitis.
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