Andy Winter says always being prepared to pounce allowed him to grab Hamilton's winner against 10-man Queen of the South on Saturday and move his side up to sixth in the Championship table.
Winter latched onto Dan O'Reilly's through-ball and checked inside before slamming the ball into the right corner of the net for his 65th-minute winner, which could prove pivotal in Hamilton's season run-in.
That leaves Stuart Taylor's side seven points off fourth spot with 15 to play for, and while a play-off slot might be wishful thinking at this point, Winter says you never know, if you keep picking up results.
The 20-year-old said: "You get those games, when we didn't create as many chances as we wanted to, especially in the first half when I think we made their keeper make one save.
"You have to keep plugging away. You have to be ready when your chance comes, and I was.
"Dan said to 'keep making those runs and I'll find you'. There was a wee gap one time, and I don't think it quite got there, but it was a cracking ball and that kind of made up my mind, anyway.
"I cut inside, saw the guy coming, so there was a wee change of direction and I then put it in the corner.
"You've always got to keep ready for it because you might only get one chance in a game, and I was lucky that I took my chance.
"It's good to get the goal, but most importantly it was three points.
"It was quite a tight affair. They made it hard for us and we probably weren't at our best either, but the three points is the most important thing."
Winning back to back league games for the first time in two years has given Hamilton a lift, and Winter says they can use that to climb further up the Championship table.
He said: "The energy is good in the team and I think that's the first time we've won two league games back to back in God knows how long, so that's good as well.
"The team is flying at the right time in the season.
"You never know what can happen, you just have to keep winning your games.
"You always want to win your games, but you know how tight this league is. Anyone can beat anyone on their day, and you've just got to keep playing well.
"Results will come for us if we just keep playing the way we're playing.
"There's only five games left, so you've got to finish strongly - you don't know where you could end up in this league."
Hamilton travel to Somerset Park to take on an Ayr United side that sit two places and five points below them in the table, and Winter says results elsewhere can combine to fire them up the league.
He said: "We'll try to win at Ayr United on Friday night.
"We always look forward to every game and hope for the three points. If we keep playing the way we're playing you don't know what can happen."
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