Kilmarnock boss Lee Clark ranked his side’s comeback win against Ross County as their best performance of the season.
But now he has warned his players not to rest on their laurels ahead of another important clash with Hamilton Accies this weekend.
The Rugby Park side came back from 2-1 down in the match, having led through Kris Boyd’s opener which was the fastest ever goal in Scottish Premiership history after just 10.4 seconds.
Goals from Gary Dicker and then Sean Longstaff sealed a precious home win for Killie.
Now Clark (left) is keen to see his side replicate that result in a bid to push up the Scottish Premiership table.
He said: “It was a kick on from Hearts, which was our standard bearer at home. This was an even better performance because I felt the quality of the football was really high.
“I said to the players after the game to enjoy the result on Saturday night but as soon as Sunday morning comes, get re-focused. Don’t get all giddy and think you can rest on your laurels.
“We now have a huge game on Saturday because Hamilton are a team in and around us. We have to be dominant in those games.
“You have to take these opportunities. When we’ve come off the back of good results in the past we’ve failed miserably in the next game.
“If we do our job right over the second half of the season, we’ve got a chance of making the top six — as have four or five other clubs, of course.”
It was a welcome result for Clark after an early Scottish Cup exit last week against Hamilton.
That meant Killie had been elimated from both cup competitions early on this season, stretching their miserable run in knock-out format.
Clark said: “I’d have loved to have been a manager of Kilmarnock at any final at Hampden Park.
“I wanted to do well in the cups and was really disappointed we went out both of them.
“But, for me, the key thing in the progression of this club was how we do in the league and where we finish.
“The second half of the season is huge and in terms of the league campaign we have started positively.”
On-loan Newcastle star Longstaff was the hero on Saturday and was joined in the starting line-up by fellow Geordie loanees Callum Roberts and Freddie Woodman.
Kristoff Ajer, on loan from Celtic, also impressed but it was a difficult day for fellow centre-back Karleigh Osborne, who was substituted after just 33 minutes.
Clark has now added strikers Conor Sammon and Joshua Umerah on loan from Hearts and Charlton respectively, while Scott Boyd has signed a permanent deal with the Rugby Park club.
The Killie boss added: “We haven’t seen the full impact of Callum Roberts — when he gets in his full rhythm, it will be there for everyone to see.
“Sean Longstaff is a midfielder with an eye for a goal and we saw that when he was calm and assured in his finish to win the game.
“Freddie is a goalkeeper who has attracted huge bids, I know for a fact Newcastle have turned down multi-million pound offers for him — and that showed in his performance.
“Kristoff has come in from Celtic and looked like a Rolls-Royce — so we’re pleased with how things are going.”
