Craig Palmer laughed off suggestions he’d be lined up for the vacant Aberdeen job after his resilient Arthurlie side toppled Darvel.
But he insists every Premier Division team will be taking his side seriously now after they overturned a two-goal deficit to secure a stunning 3-2 win against Mick Kennedy’s Scottish Cup heroes.
Much like Darvel against the Dons last Monday night, few gave the Barrhead club much chance of upsetting the then top-flight leaders on Saturday afternoon at Dunterlie Park.
But despite going into the break two goals behind, Arthurlie rallied superbly to take all three points thanks to a clinical quick-fire brace from Dale Simeon and a powerful Ryan McGregor header.
Arthurlie released a cheeky statement aimed at Aberdeen after full-time, warning the Pittodrie side to “not even think about approaching Palmer”.
While enjoying the banter, Palmer is fully focused on building on Saturday’s win as ‘Lie continue to try and push up the Premier Division table.
He told Renfrewshire Live Sport: “It was a great game and in the end I thought we fully deserved the win.
“They were the better side in the first half but we were a bit unlucky with both of their goals. We were playing well and I told the boys that I believed we could still win the game because we were playing so well. We just needed a bit more composure in the final third.
“The next goal was crucial and they had a chance three on one which they should have scored. Thirty seconds later and Simeon scored his first and the whole game swung.
“Momentum is huge and we controlled the rest of the game and honestly could have scored four or five.
“Nobody gave us a chance going into the game apart from us. Darvel’s result against Aberdeen was magnificent, but at the end of the day it was 11 vs 11 again and it was at our park. I fully believed we could get the result and so did the boys. They were superb and I’m proud of the resilience and quality they showed, especially in the second half.
“My phone was going constantly after that Aberdeen post. It was a great laugh, but in all seriousness I think we showed on Saturday that we can beat anyone in this league when we’re at our best.”
Arthurlie will hope to follow up Saturday’s impressive result when they travel to Somervell Park this Saturday to take on Cambuslang Rangers – the side currently sitting bottom of the table.
Palmer is expecting another big performance from his boys, including striker Jordan Shelvey who enjoyed a strong debut against Darvel, adding: “We need to take all three points from Cambuslang because we need to get as high up the table as we possibly can.
“Jordan had a great debut on Saturday and he brings a lot of quality and energy to the side. He’s a big boost up front and is already fitting in well with the lads.
“Big Lewis Warnock deserves a mention too because he was excellent coming off the bench. He’s not had a lot of minutes lately but he pressed and carried the ball very well. He certainly showed he deserves his chance to play more.”
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