The Scottish Premiership continues this weekend as Ross County face Motherwell at Victoria Park on Saturday afternoon.
The encounter could be a key one in the battle to avoid the drop, with these two sides sitting next to each other in the bottom half of the division - the hosts are 10th and Motherwell are 11th in the Scottish Premiership table.
Match preview
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The Staggies come into this match off the back of a thumping 4-0 win at home to Dundee United last Saturday.
A virtuoso performance from St Mirren loanee Eamonn Brophy was central to County's victory - the 26-year-old striker scored twice and assisted the other two goals for ex-Swansea City midfielder Yan Dhanda and Jordan White, respectively.
County's victory against United was much needed as it ended a run of three matches without a win for Malky Mackay's side.
The Dingwall outfit are still only four points clear of the dreaded 12th place, so they are in desperate need of the points against Motherwell to give themselves some extra breathing space.
Ross County are unbeaten in their last three matches at Victoria Park, with the first of those games being a 3-0 success over Kilmarnock on 28 January. The two victories for County in this period were as many as they managed in their previous 15 games, a spell which included 10 losses.
A third triumph in four games in front of their own fans on Saturday will take them level on points with their visitors, and it would also be the first time they have recorded consecutive home wins in the league since March 2022.
Despite their recent home successes, Ross County's tally of 24 goals is the second-lowest in the division, and The Staggies will need Brophy to replicate his performance against Dundee in the remaining games of the season if they are to remain clear of danger.
Stuart Kettlewell will become only the second manager to manage both for and against Ross County in the top flight when he takes charge of the Steelmen on Saturday, after John Hughes, having overseen 58 Scottish Premiership games as County boss from 2018 to 2020.
As often happens upon the arrival of a new manager, Motherwell have experienced an upturn in form since the 38-year-old was appointed on February 22 - the seven points they have taken in his three league games in charge is more than they managed in the previous 15 before he joined, a run of results that included only a solitary victory and one that plunged them into relegation danger.
The Lanarkshire outfit come into this game off the back of a 1-1 draw away at Kilmarnock last weekend, when a stoppage-time free kick from Callum Slattery earned Motherwell a point after Scott Robinson had opened the scoring for Killie in the first half.
The side from Fir Park will aim to take the momentum from that last-gasp draw and from their last three outings into the meeting with County, but they are winless in their last four away games, losing three of those. A maiden away victory under Kettlewell's stewardship on Saturday will take them six points clear of their hosts.
Motherwell won this fixture 5-0 last season with Kevin van Veen bagging a hat-trick. Van Veen is the leading goalscorer for the Steelmen this season and the Dutch forward is aiming to record the highest league goals tally for a season in his career - he is currently five goals short of the 16 he managed for Belgian side FC OSS in 2014-15.
The Steelmen have won on their last two visits to Victoria Park, and have the chance to record three-straight triumphs over County for the first time in their history on Saturday.
Team News
Ross County will be without midfielder Ben Paton who is continuing his recovery from a cruciate ligament injury, so Malky Mackay will field his usual 4-2-2-2 formation on Saturday.
White and Brophy will continue their partnership upfront against Motherwell and will hope to both find the net for the second week in a row.
Dhanda and Gwion Edwards will support the forwards from the flanks, and Nohan Kenneh will protect the defence alongside Victor Loturi.
Motherwell left-back Jake Carroll will be out of the meeting with County after undergoing knee surgery.
Callum Slattery is pushing for a starting berth upfront alongside Van Veen after scoring the equaliser off the bench last weekend.
Ross County possible starting lineup:
Laidlaw; Randall, Baldwin, Iacovitti, Harmon; Kenneh, Loturi; Edwards, Dhanda; Brophy, White
Motherwell possible starting lineup:
Kelly; Butcher, Casey, McGinn; Johnston, Cornelius, Goss, Furlong; Spittal; Van Veen, Slattery
We say: Ross County 2-1 Motherwell
Despite Motherwell's recent upswing under their new manager, Ross County will be confident of extending their winning run at home due to their visitors' struggles on the road.
County's need for the points is slightly more urgent than Motherwell's and that may just give them the edge in this encounter.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Ollie Hawthorn
