Dons Look To Get Back To Winning Ways

Last updated : 17 January 2016 By ed_ScottishFitba

C:WindowsTempphp90CA.tmpRoss County manager Jim McIntyre has urged his defence to close out the threat of Aberdeen danger man Adam Rooney by cutting the Irishman off at source. The Staggies welcome the second-placed Dons today but McIntyre is wary of the threat posed by Rooney and his colleagues. Rooney has 14 goals to his name so far this season but rather than focus all their attention on marking him out of this weekend's gamel, the County manager wants his side to make sure the service he relies on does not get through.

McIntyre said: "Rooney is a very dangerous player. In fact, their front three or four are very potent. Most of their goals come from Rooney, Jonny Hayes and Niall McGinn, backed up by whoever is playing in the hole, whether that by Kenny McLean, Peter Pawlett or someone else. These guys are all capable of chipping in with goals and we have to try and stop it at source. It's about making sure you are very compact in defence in order to cut off the space that these guys thrive on."

The Dingwall men finally claimed their place in the last 16 of the Scottish Cup after Raffaele De Vita netted the winner in Tuesday night's fourth-round replay win over Dunfermline. The Italian was an instant hit when he first signed for County last January but the former Cheltenham winger has had a disjointed campaign so far, with injuries disrupting his progress. McIntyre said: "We're hoping Rafa gets that boost after Tuesday night. "He's been very unfortunate this season with the injuries he has picked up. They always seem to come at the wrong time just when he's managed to get a couple of games and looks like he's going to get his season started. There's been a mixture of a lack of form and misfortune with injuries but hopefully that goal will kick-start his season. It was around this time of year last season when Rafa came in and was absolutely fantastic for us. Hopefully we can get him back to that level and if we do, we have a fantastic footballer on our hands."

Aberdeen assistant manager Tony Docherty wants his side to shrug off last week's Scottish Cup loss at Hearts and get back to winning ways in Dingwall today. The Pittodrie side were far from their best in the 1-0 fourth-round defeat at Tynecastle. Docherty is keen for the Dons, six points behind Premiership leaders Celtic, to resume encouraging league form against County, who are fresh from their 1-0 Scottish Cup replay win over Dunfermline in midweek.

Docherty said: "The Hearts result was hugely disappointing. There is no getting away from that. We just need to dust ourselves down and focus on our league campaign. We must make sure we channel all our energies from the disappointment of going out of the cup and focus everything on the league campaign. The Hearts defeat was the first game we have lost in nine games. We are still undefeated in the league since that since the defeat against Celtic in Glasgow (in October) and we want to continue that run of form. We know how difficult the trip to Dingwall will be. I was up at the game on Tuesday night for their cup tie. They are a difficult opponent who play to their strengths. We are going to have to be at our best to continue our current run of league form."

Aberdeen lost 2-0 in Dingwall in October but beat County 3-1 at Pittodrie the following month and manager Derek McInnes is hoping today's game signals the start of a grandstand finale to the season. He said: "What we have to do now is focus all our energies into the league campaign and on to the last 17 games of the season. Ross County is a tough game. We didn't play well up there earlier in the season when they beat us. We had one of best second-half performances against them here to get the win. A positive result is important for a lot of reasons but we want to keep our unbeaten run in the league going by picking up all three points."