LEVEIN: I ONLY FOCUS ON OUR COUNTY GAME
CRAIG LEVEIN insists he’s not spooked by the shock result that rocked rangers – and dragged St Johnstone closer to play-off danger.
ross County’s Sunday stunner launched the Dingwall men to within a point of Saints.
It sets up a scrap between the pair to avoid landing in 11th place over the next five games.
County’s fighting chances have been enhanced by back-to-back home wins over Hearts then Gers.
The head-to-head between Saints and Don Cowie’s side is expected to be at McDiarmid Park.
and Levein stressed that’s the only time his full focus will rest on the problems County might pose his team.
Levein said: “The result between ross County and rangers doesn’t bother me.
“There is nothing I can do about that and we knew there were going to be twists and turns to come.
“I can’t have any influence on anything else other than the team we’re playing on a particular day between now and the end of the season.
“We know what we’re doing, we know what we’re facing and we know who we’re facing.
“It’s not like we just fell into the bottom six on the last day before the split.
“We’ve had many close games before against the teams we’ll be playing.
“We were bottom of the league when we started the job. The fact we’re two places above that now is good.
“Our record against the top-six teams has not been good but it’s been better against the bottom six, which is normal.
“It’s just a matter now of getting some players back fit and available. Then we
just need to be at our best and ready to scrap.”
Levein hopes to be boosted by the return of Liam Gordon when postsplit action gets underway.
The captain missed the win at Hibs and the 2-0 home loss to Kilmarnock on Saturday.
Levein said: “Liam is improving. I’d be hopeful this extra week we’ve got gives him enough time to get himself ready and make it back.
“It was an issue with his groin. He’s not limping or anything like that but he wasn’t available for us.
“Saturday was disappointing. We had some really good things in the game and chances that we didn’t manage to take.
“But I think Killie are a couple of years ahead of us. They’re a good side.
“I went into the game hopeful after our last two performances but we didn’t reach the same heights.
“If you do that against Kilmarnock, your chances of winning are pretty slim.
“You need to dig in and accept every game is going to be a fight and we understand that.
“That part of our game’s been pretty good and generally, we compete. That’s the first thing you need.
“I’d still like us to do a bit better with the ball. That would be helpful in us creating more chances to score goals.”