TRUE BELIEVER
United gaffer is convinced they belong in title hunt
Defeat at Ross County has given Ayr United MORE belief, says Ian McCall. The boss says his side’s stirring second half show has convinced them they belong in the title hunt. Now he’s urging them to back it up with three huge games in seven days.
Ayr should have returned from the Highlands with at least a point after battering County in the second half.
But McCall admitted: “We gave ourselves a mountain to climb.
“However, the players have come out of the game with even more confidence after that second half.
“They were magnificent after the break and now the challenge is to take that forward into next week.”
Ayr face a triple header with games against Partick ( away), Alloa ( home) and Falkirk ( away) starting this Saturday.
But the boss is warning against complacency and talk of so- called “winnable games”.
He said: “Partick are a Premier League club – I don’t care what anyone says.
“Then you look at Falkirk with the budget they have and it’s crazy that they’re sitting bottom of the league.
“So we certainly won’t be buying into talk that these games are easier in any way.
“We have to fight for everything in this league and our aim remains the same – to reach 40 points as quickly as possible.
“But we’ve now played everyone and we know there is nothing to fear.”
Meanwhile, McCall admits that juggling his fully fit squad is becoming a harder task by the week.
Declan McDaid was once again a standout off the bench in Dingwall.
McCall said: “Declan has been great in recent weeks and you also have guys like Steven Bell and Craig Moore who are banging down my door.
“They’ve all done nothing wrong, so it’s a nice problem to have.”
• Moore was on target as Ayr’s reserves beat Stirling 4- 0 on Monday. Luke McCowan grabbed a hat trick.