Like all the games we have at the moment three points is an absolute must. Victories are the only way we're going to avoid a play-off and this is another game where three points would come with the added bonus of hurting one of our rivals at the bottom of the table. Our record against County isn't great this season as they gubbed us in Dingwall in August and beat us there a few months ago, but we did have a relatively comfortable win over them in Paisley in November - a few weeks after we should have beaten them comfortably before the rain came down and Willie Collum abandoned the match.
We're in a decent run of form at the moment, being undefeated in four games and taking eight points in the process. By the law of averages we may be due a defeat soon but we have to hope it doesn't come tomorrow. If we were to get a win then we'd be four points clear of County with two games to go, while we may be even slightly further ahead of Kilmarnock. A defeat would have us back in huge trouble. That's how tight things are at the moment, with the five teams trying to avoid the play-off covered by just a couple of points.
There's an extra incentive for us to win tomorrow in the shape of Ross County manager Derek Adams. It's fair to say he doesn't exactly like Jim Goodwin, having called the Saints skipper a ghost earlier in the season and then going head to head with Danny Lennon the last time we met after a challenge Goodwin made on one of his players. It was a ridiculous over reaction and one he wouldn't have made had it been any other player - especially as Goodwin was always going to end up hurting himself rather than anyone else. Some of the things he has said about us have been ridiculous and we definitely owe him a bit of payback.
The good news is Goodwin can try to wind Adams up a bit more tomorrow after his red card against Hibs was overturned. Replays showed it was a harsh decision, although I wouldn't have been surprised if it had been allowed to stand. No doubt the successful appeal will have Adams riled up even more and it would be amusing (though, of course, totally wrong) if Goodwin did a Jamie Hamill on him. With him being available it's unlikely there will be too many other changes to the side, meaning Josh Magennis, Gregg Wylde and Gary Teale will have to wait until the second half to make a substitute appearance.
We do have Marian Kello available again and it'll be interesting to see if he starts. Christopher Dilo has done OK in Kello's absence but he looked a bit shaky last week, particularly when it came to dealing with crosses and passbacks. However, he did also make some good saves so hopefully that will have boosted his confidence if he does indeed keep his place. Kello continues to be the only injury problem now that everyone has accepted we won't be seeing Stephane Bahoken again. Mind you, we've already thought that once before this season...
Adams was being hailed last season for what he achieved with County and rightly so. After struggling in the first half of the campaign they really kicked on in the second half and stormed their way into the top six. Reality has kicked in this season, partly because some of their best players were nicked during the summer, and they find themselves in a relegation battle for the first time in a number of years. Adams hasn't really had experience of this as a manager before - having been at Hibs when County just survived in the first division in 2011 - but that shouldn't really make any difference and he'll have his team fired up tomorrow, especially after last week's crucial victory over Kilmarnock.
Adams seems to prefer a tactic that doesn't require his strikers to be particularly prolific. Yoann Arquin has looked handy after arriving in January and has managed to get a few goals while Blackburn loanee Jordan Slew works hard but has yet to score. Melvin De Leeuw has scored eight times, including against us, but Darren Maatsen has struggled for goals, although not to the extent he's dropped behind Gary Glen in the manager's favour.
Many Saints fans disputed the decision to let Graham Carey go during the summer. During his time with us he scored some cracking goals - including the one voted the best in the SPL last season - but was rather inconsistent. It wasn't a surprise to see him released, but he could also have been kept. Whatever, the move to Ross County seems to have worked out well for him. He is playing on a regular basis, isn't quite as chunky and is making an important contribution. He is one of a number of goalscoring midfielders County have, including skipper and former Saint Richard Brittain. He hasn't been quite as influential this season but is still a key player as is Filip Kiss, who made an instant impact when he moved on loan from Cardiff. Both of them were on target in last week's win over Kilmarnock. Michael Tidser and Rocco Quinn also know how to score goals but haven't shown it quite as often. Stuart Kettlewell seems to like kicking people more than scoring, while Alex Cooper can make a contribution at times.
The County defence seems to look fairly reliable on occasion and pretty horrific at others, with goals being shipped all over the place. Evangelos Ikonomou returned in January to play at leftback after excelling last season, while the arrivals of Yann Songo'o and Erik Cikos on loan also strengthened things a bit. However, it hasn't had quite the desired effect as County have still been on the receiving end of a few heavy defeats. The likes of Brian McLean, Scott Boyd and Ben Gordon have all struggled at times, while Steven Saunders was amusingly sent off against us earlier in the season. Mark Brown is likely to play in goals, Michael Fraser now back to being second choice.
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