Derek McInnes says there are plenty of positives to take despite being knocked out of the Scottish Cup by Dundee United.
Kilmarnock took this fourth-round tie all the way into extra-time after Rory McKenzie cancelled out Marc McNulty's third-minute opener.
The Ayrshire side left everything out on the park but they were ultimately undone by Manchester United loanee Dylan Levitt who bagged a goal after 110 minutes of a gruelling match.
The Rugby Park side had hoped to be in the hat for the last 16 but the focus will now switch to a crucial home clash against Inverness – and McInnes reckons his side will be fine if they keep turning in performances like that.
He said: “Yeah it was a sore one to take, there were loads of aspects of the performance I was pleased with.
“I was dying to help my team in extra-time, but when you’re restricted with just one extra sub it’s hard.
“I tried to be positive with the subs, we could have shored up the defence and played for penalties, but I didn’t want to send that kind of message out.
“The risk and reward is always there. We had umpteen chances in the game to get that all-important second goal. Then unfortunately for us when it came for United it was in the dying embers of the game.
“The players gave absolutely everything, I have been here a couple of weeks now and that performance was miles better than what we had.
“You can’t take any real pleasure in losing a cup-tie but I think the team responded to the fans and the fans responded to the team.
“The players are responding to what we are asking of them, the intensity and speed is what we want and they took on a Premier League team."
He added: “Ultimately we need to dust ourselves down, take the positives and there’s things to learn from that game.
“We now need to take that performance into our own league and get something good out of it. As good as the Championship is, we took on a good Premiership team and for large spells of the game we looked more likely to win it.
“It’s hard to take positives from losing in the cup, but did I think we’d be capable of that performance so soon when I arrived? I’m not so sure. That will do for me.
“We lost the game, but that type of performance will do me, that type of performance will get more victories than defeats."
The visitors took just three minutes to get themselves in front as McNulty latched on to a ball through and slotted it past Zach Hemming.
Kilmarnock got themselves back level through McKenzie as he finished well second time of asking after an initial save from Benjamin Siegrist.
Oli Shaw had a good chance in the 35th minute as he took advantage from a slip in United’s defence but his effort went narrowly wide.
Killie were dealt a blow before half-time when skipper Chris Stokes was forced off with injury. He was replaced by Euan Murray.
Rugby Park erupted in the 52nd minute when Kyle Lafferty was introduced for his return as he replaced Daniel MacKay.
Just after the hour mark Ash Taylor looked sure to have fired Killie in front, but his header was blocked off the line wonderfully.
The visitors were so close to taking the lead in the 85th minute after some wonderful play but the eventual shot from Ilmari Niskanen swerved off the post.
Tony Watt had a good chance two minutes into extra-time when he drilled an effort across the ground towards goal. It was well saved by Hemming and a rebound was prevented and the ball was cleared.
The home crowd were silenced in the 110th minute when Levitt fired home a fantastic low driven effort past Hemming.
Killie had two fantastic chances from kick-off but their efforts were incredibly blocked by the Dundee United defence.
The hosts piled on the pressure with a number of chances but struggled to make their efforts count and the match ultimately ended in defeat.
Don't miss the latest Ayrshire headlines – sign up to our free daily newsletter here
