McINTYRE AIMING TO PILE ON THE PAIN

JIM McINTYRE believes his Ross County side can deepen Aberdeen’s despair in Dingwall tonight. A phenomenal start to the season saw Derek McInnes’ team rack up eight straight league victories to set the title race alight. Three defeats have tarnished that opening run but, heading into tonight’s clash, County are also looking to return to winning ways. A Highland derby defeat before the international break placed a minor blot on their own sparkling opening spell in the campaign. And it all adds up, in McIntyre’s mind, to a potential thriller. He said: ‘If [Aberdeen’s defeats] highlighted anything, it’s that if you switch off for a second you can be punished — in any game, no matter who you are playing. ‘We’ve seen that this season even with Celtic. ‘I read Derek’s comments and he wasn’t happy with the set-play defending, which is a big part of the modern game. ‘They are a major threat themselves from set-pieces. That’s what happens at this level. We saw it ourselves. For my mind, we had more of the game than Inverness but they were the ones who put the ball away. ‘That’s just the way it goes sometimes. Goals change games. ‘It was a fabulous start to go eight wins on the trot at the beginning of the season — unbelievable — but we just have to concentrate on ourselves. We’ve got good players here, who can hurt them, and we have to make sure we defend properly because we know we’ll be tested. ‘They have a lot of pace and hold a real threat at set plays.’ McIntyre, who is waiting to hear if new Dutch forward Alex Schalk will receive international clearance in time, added: ‘We’ve got to stand up to them and then put our game on to them. As much as they’re a threat, so are we. ‘We have to make sure we get into areas we can hurt them.’