Ross County boss Jim McIntyre looking for home comforts against St Johnstone
Ross County manager Jim McIntyre is looking forward to pitting his team's decent home record against a St Johnstone side who have impressed on the road.
County have seven home wins under their belt this season, while the Perth side are aiming for a seventh consecutive away victory.
McIntyre, whose side sit six points behind Saints in the Ladbrokes Premiership, said: "It's a chance to claw back points and get closer to them.
"Their away form has been fantastic, they have shown a real level of consistency on the road, like we have in Dingwall.
"We have to make sure we make home advantage count and pick up the points."
County have suffered four defeats in their last five league games, but they have played the top three during that spell and remain in the top six.
Keeper Scott Fox is pushing for a return having made his comeback from an ankle injury in the under-20s in midweek but Michael Gardyne (ankle) and Brian Graham (groin) remain on the sidelines.
McIntyre added: "The league is so tight, you just have to see how bunched it is. The one thing that's been proven is you need to be consistent and that's where we have fallen short in recent weeks.
"We need to be more ruthless when we are defending and when we are attacking because we are certainly having a lot of the game in each of the games we have lost."
Saints manager Tommy Wright senses his team have become a "scalp" in an increasingly competitive race for a top-six place, and he views Ross County as one of the chief new contenders for a place in the top half.
St Johnstone sit fourth in the table ahead of their trip to Dingwall but they may be missing defender Steven Anderson, who is a major doubt after suffering a gashed and swollen leg against Dundee.
"If you look at the league, it's stronger now," said Wright, who has midfielder Liam Craig back from a two-game suspension.
"Two or three seasons ago Aberdeen and Hearts weren't as strong as they are now. You have teams like Ross County and Inverness that are really improving, Partick Thistle.
"Everybody is working hard to improve, so that makes it more difficult every year.
"Everybody maybe looks at us and goes, well that's a scalp, if we can finish above them we know we will probably get in the top six. And we are maybe targeted a bit more.
"But all we do is keep working hard and do what we do, and try to get as many points as possible."
Source: PAR
