John Rankin says his Hamilton Accies side blew Stranraer away in the Premier Sports Cup with their second-half performance on Tuesday, and showed real desire.
And he says the 5-2 New Douglas Park win came from a calm belief that chances would come.
Accies scored four in a six-minute spell through Andy Winter, Andy Ryan and a Matty Shiels double, with Stranraer scoring two penalties through Paul Woods either side of a fifth goal from Lewis Smith.
Rankin says they put things right after a frustrating first half.
He said: “Stranraer came, had the bit between their teeth and they’ve got everything to play for, so fair play to them – I thought they were quite good in the first half and caused us problems. But we probably caused problems for ourselves.
“In the second half, I thought it was completely different – we played, we ran, we passed, we looked confidence, hungry and aggressive.
“In those six minutes we blew them away and, to be fair, I don’t think we can question the boys’ desire after that.
“It all comes from half-time. There’s noise coming off the crowd and they’re not happy, and the boys are a wee bit anxious about it.
“But it’s a calmness. Just be calm, believe in what we’re doing, and you’ll get an opportunity.
“We had composure in front of goal – I thought some of the finishing in the second half was great.
“But the thing that was pleasing was the amount of people that were desperate to run beyond.”
Follow Lanarkshire Live Sport on Twitter via @LanLiveSport, like us on Facebook or find us on Instagram for the latest sports news, pictures and video.
