Lee Bullen hailed Dipo Akinyemi for swapping the lower reaches of English football to fire Ayr to the Championship summit.
The summer signing - who was plucked from obscurity at Welling United to head north - has fired six goals in four games to put The Honest Men on top.
The red hot form has lit up the league and is already putting Akinyemi on the map as a player to watch.
His double against Dundee tonight was part of an all action display that left boss Bullen purring.
The head coach said: "Dipo's been excellent since he came in and all credit to him again tonight.
"Keith Glendinning does an excellent job on the recruitment side of things for us with Graeme Mathie and has a really good handle on the non-league in England.
"That's the financial pond we have to deal in at the moment and there's more players like Dipo down there if you're willing to take the chance.
"You just need to believe in these boys and give them the platform to go and prove themselves and so far the big man has settled into Scottish football tremendously well.
"It says a lot that after every game so far, all the opposition managers are coming out and mentioning him and how influential he is.
"And that's also due to the hard work of his teammates around him who are helping him to play to his best.
"And although Dipo is getting the headlines, I have to say Mark McKenzie is a fantastic foil for him and the pair are working really well as a pair."
Akinyemi had hauled Ayr level early in the first half after a frenetic opening saw Dundee hit the front through Zak Rudden.
But United quickly grew into the game and missed chances to go ahead before half time through Andy Murdoch and Sam Ashford.
Rudden, Paul McMullan and Zach Robinson were all denied by Charlie Albinson as Dundee enjoyed a good start to the second half but they couldn't make the chances pay.
And Ayr duly punished them when Akinyemi turned provider for Jordan Houston to fire home his first ever senior goal from 20 yards with a left foot strike.
And moments later, Akinyemi stole the show by pulling down a Daire O'Connor cross before turning to burst the net from 12 yards.
Dundee's misery was complete in stoppage time when skipper Ryan Sweeney saw red for a second booking.
Bullen added: "There were a lot of character questions asked of us in those 90 minutes.
"Dundee started brilliantly but we weathered the storm and came right back at them.
"It's three points nearer to safety and we will reassess as we go along, but nobody is getting carried away here after five games."
Dundee boss Gary Bowyer said: "Ayr are top of the league for a reason and in the second half you saw that."
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