Malky Mackay: Ross County will ‘prepare properly’ to face in-form Kevin van Veen

Malky Mackay believes Motherwell hot-shot Kevin van Veen is simply the next of several top cinch Premiership strikers Ross County have to deal with this season as they battle for survival.

The 31-year-old Dutchman is in the form of his life with 26 goals for the Steelmen this season – five against County and 11 in his last eight games – and has been shortlisted for the PFA Scotland player of the year award, a notable achievement for a player at a bottom-six club.

County travel to Fir Park on Saturday on the back of two successive and morale-boosting victories, a 2-0 home win over Livingston and a 3-1 victory over fellow strugglers Dundee United.

And with three fixtures remaining, the Dingwall outfit sit in the relegation play-off spot, two points ahead of the Tannadice outfit and one behind 10th placed Kilmarnock.

Asked about the threat of Van Veen, Staggies boss Mackay said: “He is in a real good vein of form and we just have to make sure we prepare properly in terms of our game plan.

“But Steven Fletcher (Dundee United) is a terrific centre-forward who we played against at the weekend and Duk (Aberdeen), Kyogo (Furuhashi, Celtic), I could keep going.

“Clubs have got good players up front in this league and we need to make sure we contain that.

“It was a terrific win for us last weekend obviously and it gives the boys that chance over the weekend to settle down and be focused and ready for the Motherwell game.

“We just focus on what is in front of our face like we did last week and the week before.

“The important situation was to bounce back from the Hearts game and get us back to where I believe we were leading up to that, in terms of the St Johnstone, Celtic and Aberdeen games, and get back to playing in a manner that is going to be tough for the opposition.

“We did against Livingston and followed that in the game against Dundee United, so that’s what we hope to bring to the last three games.

“It’s going to be a tough game without a doubt, it always is going to Fir Park and Stuart (Kettlewell) has done really well. They are in good form but we’re looking forward to it.

“We all have twists and turns to come and we have to make sure that we focus on ourselves and what is right in front of us.”