Jim McIntyre rallies his Ross County troops ahead of Dunfermline replay

Jim McIntyre has warned his Ross County players to make drastic improvements to avoid following Hamilton out of the William Hill Scottish Cup.

The top-flight Staggies were held to a 2-2 draw by League One leaders Dunfermline during a pulsating fourth-round clash at East End Park on Saturday.

But former Pars boss McIntyre claimed his side were sloppy against his old side.

Now he wants them to up their game or risk suffering the same kind of upset that saw Premiership side Hamilton crash out to lowly Annan from League Two.

The Dingwall boss said ahead of Tuesday's replay: We've got to be better all over the pitch. We started the game well but gave possession away too much and gave Dunfermline a lift back into the game.

You've got to praise Dunfermline for the way they attacked us but we will certainly be a lot better than we were on Saturday.

We've seen over the weekend how difficult these cup ties are with a couple of shocks. It's important we make sure we're not another casualty.

We certainly won't be underestimating Dunfermline. We know the quality they have and the confidence they are playing with being 15 games unbeaten and leaders of League One.

They were at the top of their game on Saturday but, having watched the game back, I have seen so much that we can do better. If we can do that, I'm confident we will win the match.''

Alex Schalk and Brian Graham linked up in attack for only the second time on Saturday as McIntyre's regular front two Craig Curran and Liam Boyce were both ruled out.

But the manager was pleased with how they faired, with Graham sending his partner through to score the opener before then adding a penalty after Dutchman Schalk had been tripped in the box.

Both of them scored and that was the positive from Saturday for me,'' said McIntyre.

Having only played two games together I thought some of their link-up play was good.''

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