Ross County attacker Alex Schalk is looking forward to renewing his rivalry with Dundee United defender Gavin Gunning this afternoon.
The Dutch forward had an altercation on the pitch with his United opponent in his side’s 3-0 league defeat last weekend, but the former Go Ahead Eagles man is determined to show he can handle the rough and tumble of Scottish football when the Tangerines visit Victoria Park today in the Scottish Cup quarter-final.
Schalk said: “When I had the little thing going on he (Gunning) said to me ‘I wanted you to get sent off we need the points’.
“That’s what he said on the pitch right after the incident. He was laughing about it.
“That’s the way they’re going to play every game from now on, obviously, because they need to make up eight points still.
“I would do the same if I was in that position.
“I have to learn that. They will try everything and I need to stay focused.
“We need to match up that enthusiasm. If we can, we can definitely win the game.”
County bounced back from their surprise loss to the Tangerines by strengthening hopes of claiming a top six place with a 2-0 win at Kilmarnock on Tuesday.
Schalk, who scored the first goal at Rugby Park, hopes his side can reproduce that display today and secure a place in the semi-final.
He said: “We can leave the league to one side now and focus on the cup.
“This is massive a quarter-final. We want to go on and reach another semi-final and definitely avenge last week. We want to show it was just a bad day at the office.
“We will look to make amends and show them we’re the better side.”
County manager Jim McIntyre added: “We have to give Dundee United credit as they played well and scrapped hard, while we didn’t do enough and got what we deserved.
“But the players bounced back brilliantly, as they have done so often this season, from the poor result we had with a good win at Kilmarnock.
“We’ve got to match the opposition in any game we play and we know we didn’t do that last week.
“We lost two goals from set-plays as well which was frustrating and when the other team gets a lift like that it makes for a long day.
“It is a one-off and a great chance for both clubs to get to a semi-final. We know we are going to have to be a whole lot better than we were last week but we’re ready to do just that.”
Attacker Craig Curran and goalkeeper Scott Fox will miss the game due to injury while forward David Goodwillie is cup-tied after playing for Aberdeen in the fourth round at Hearts.