Staggies wary of in-form Killie, says Naismith

Ross County defender Jason Naismith admits the Staggies’ alarm bells were ringing even before Kilmarnock sent out a five-goal weekend warning.

Steve Clarke’s side gave another brutal demonstration of their confidence with their 5-1 drubbing of Partick Thistle on Saturday.

The result will have sent a shiver down the backs of Owen Coyle’s County side ahead of their Dingwall showdown tonight.

He said: “We need to make sure we are right up for this game on Tuesday as Kilmarnock are flying.

“They are the form team in the league.

“They got a great result on Saturday, so that’s a warning sign.

“But there are warning signs there every day for us. We’re second-bottom of the league and that’s not good enough.

“We have two massive games this week with Hamilton to come on Saturday as well and both are like cup finals even at this stage in the season.

“We need to get the points and get fired up the table.”

County looked set to claim a huge result at Ibrox on Saturday when Craig Curran fired them into an early lead against Rangers, but they were unable to hold on to the points as Gers battled back for a 2-1 win.

Naismith, though, was pleased with the way his side pushed the Govan outfit.

He said: “We need to be in people’s faces. I said that to our captain Andy Davies last week that we are at our best when we are relentless.

“That’s the frustration. We showed some great application pushing Celtic close a couple of weeks back and then again with the draw at Hearts.

“However, we then came right off it against Dundee.”

He continued: “We were better against Rangers, especially during the first 45 and probably should have got a draw.

“But the Dundees and Kilmarnocks of this world are just as important as the bigger sides and we can’t just raise our game for the Old Firm.”

Jason Naismith.