Patience will be a virtue for players and fans when Dundee United host Scottish Premiership strugglers Ross County.
That is the view of manager Jackie McNamara, who will lead his team into a fixture for which they are over-whelming favourites.
McNamara does not believe there is added pressure on his players to maintain the exceptionally high standards they have set over recent weeks.
Nor does he feel they will be anxious to equal the record of scoring four or more goals in six consecutive competitive fixtures that has stood unchallenged since 1936.
What he does believe, though, is that they will have to bide their time if need be against a Staggies side that will be desperate to do well after losing six and drawing one of their last seven games.
McNamara said: “Everyone needs to be patient. We have to be wary of County and getting the three points won’t be easy.
“County are not havingas successful a time as they had last year but they will be looking to turn the corner and come here to try and make it as difficult as possible for us.
“I think you see that in the way some of the opposition teams have set themselves up to play us.
“They might try and make it hard for us in terms of frustration or they could try and be aggressive or catch us on the break. But it is a compliment that they are worried about us.
“We have to compete against that and not worry about it. Last weekend down at Kilmarnock, it took us a bit of time to break them down.
“They got bodies behind the ball and were fighting and scrapping for everything. In the last number of games, we have scored a lot of our goals late on.
“Patience could be the key and if we can be patient then high expectation isn’t a danger.
“I want expectation here and for the players to live up to that and show they can handle it. So it is important we keep maintaining and improving. We are striving to do that all the time.
“In some matches, we have played better than others. I think in the last two, against Hearts and Kilmarnock, we have had to battle and then we have played well.
“They have kept going and managed to get a convincing scoreline at the end of it.”
Meanwhile, McNamara revealed that despite reports linking Everton with left-back Andy Robertson there has been no contact from Goodison Park.
He added: “I’m very happy with the way things are shaping up. We want to keep this squad together for as long as possible. It doesn’t surprise me (that there is speculation) but it doesn’t change anything.”