Michee Efete insists Ross County must 'forget about the whole season' in play-off tie against Livingston
Michee Efete insists Ross County must leave their disappointing league campaign behind them in their Premiership play-off against Livingston.
The Staggies were consigned to a third successive end-of-season survival play-off after finishing in 11th place following Sunday's 1-1 draw against Motherwell.
County finished the season without a victory from their final nine games – albeit they ended with two draws to thwart a seven-match losing streak.
The Dingwall outfit will now face an in-form Livi side, who defeated Partick Thistle 4-0 on aggregate in their play-off semi-final.
Defender Efete – who was part of the Staggies side who navigated a two-legged tie against Raith Rovers last season – insists his side can ill-afford to dwell on what got them into this situation as they prepare for the play-off fixture.
County will make the trip to Almondvale on Thursday, before hosting Livi in the return leg next Monday.
Efete said: 'It's going to be a tough game, but we have players in the dressing room that have been here before.
'We know what it takes to get the win to keep us in the league.
'The biggest learning curve I took from last year's experience is that you've just got to put your all in for the two games.
'It's two games to keep us in the league. You've got to put our heart out over the course of those two games, and play like it's the last game you are going to play.
'We've got to go in, forget about the whole season, and just go in with a fresh mindset to try and get the win.'
County needed to defeat Motherwell on Sunday, and hope already-relegated St Johnstone could provide them a favour by winning against Dundee, in order to finish in 10th place.
That situation never looked like materialising, with the Dark Blues running out 2-0 winners in Perth, while the Staggies could only hold on for a draw after Ronan Hale's first-half strike was cancelled out by Moses Ebiye's late header.
Although he was disappointed by the outcome, Englishman Efete insists Don Cowie's men can take positives into the play-off final.
He added: 'We put in everything that we could to try and get the win against Motherwell, but we just came up short.
'We made a good start, the same as we did against Dundee, but in the second half we came out slow and Motherwell managed to get momentum.
'We were aware of the Dundee result, but we were just concentrating on ourselves really. All we could do was try and get the three points and hope for the best.
'The first half gives us a boost. We can play well – we have shown that in games over the season, although we just haven't done it enough.
'In these two games we've just got to put it all together over the course of 90 minutes, which can get us the win over these next two games.'
Efete has started Ross County's last two matches, having recently returned from a knee injury which had kept him out since a victory away to Aberdeen on January 2.
The 28-year-old is aiming to help his side to produce a final push in order to retain their top-flight status.
Efete added: 'It has been tough, because I came out of the side at a time when we were winning games.
'I was getting into my stride, and it took me off course.
'In the last two games I have been back in, and we have managed to get a couple of points, but ultimately it's over the course of the full season that we have come up short.
'All I can do is try and help the team stay in the league, like I and many of the players in the team did last season.'
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