Ross County manager Malky Mackay expects it to be business as usual for his players going forward despite rising into the cinch Premiership’s top six.

Three points against St Mirren made sure that the Staggies would move into the top half of the table for the first time since the start of the 2021/22 campaign.

It is a far cry from the start of this season, where County went 10 games without victory and were being written off in some quarters as doomed for the drop, but just as Mackay saw no reason to panic then he does not believe anyone will get carried away over the remaining eight matches now.

“They’ve been level-headed all season,” Mackay reasoned.

“Don’t get high on your own supply, stay calm. Don’t get too low in that 10 game run without a win.

“The belief inside the camp in terms of how we can play, how they apply themselves, was always there.

“It is the exact same now, but I know there are a group of teams in there that are all in a little block. Any one of them could go on a little run or on a bad run, us included.

“I respect Mr MacGregor, our chairman, and our first order of business is to make sure we stay in this division.

“After that, we start looking at where we are. There are three games to the split now and we’ll see where we are then, and take it from there.”

For St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson, it is a slightly different story.

The table is so congested in the middle that they are only three points behind County in sixth, but three losses in his first three games in charge shows the former Motherwell manager that there is plenty of work still to be done.

“It has been a tough start,” Robinson admitted.

“Football’s tough in general, football management is tough.

“The first two games were a case in point, but we played too much in front of Ross County.

“I need to make some tweaks and changes to that now and run along with what we have available.

“It’s still there – there are still opportunities to win matches in the games before the split.

“We have to try and take maximum points from the next three to see where it takes us.”