Dundee defender Lee Ashcroft joked he was “raging” with Charlie Adam for denying him the chance to grab a hat-trick in Friday’s 3-0 win over Alloa.
The Dark Blues skipper chose to play short to Paul McMullan rather than send an 82nd-minute corner into the area.
That was much to the annoyance of Ashcroft, who had dominated the home defence from a number of corner kicks and had two headed goals to his name already.
However, the 27-year-old admits he was more than happy to settle for just the brace as well as a clean sheet in Clackmannanshire.
After scoring his first two league goals for the club, Ashcroft said: “I was raging at the end when Charlie never put the ball in for me because with the confidence up I felt that I could have got a hat-trick!
“But I’m delighted with the two goals and a clean sheet is massive for us.
“I had a chance earlier on in the game and it was probably the easiest of them all.
“It felt good to get one after that and put it right. I was frustrated because I’ve missed a few this season so it was good to get a couple.
“After Tuesday we knew we had to start the game well. Alloa came into it so I felt we got the goal just before half-time at the right time.
“It was good to be able to go and get the Ayr defeat out of our system right away.
“To go to Alloa with a bit of pressure on us, it’s a good feeling to come away with the win.”
Search for consistency
The victory was Dundee’s third in their last five games. Since beating Inverness at the start of the month, the Dark Blues have gone win, loss, win, loss, win – a pattern Ashcroft says they have to get out of quickly.
After results over the weekend, they sit level with both Dunfermline and Raith Rovers on 30 points.
With seven matches to go – and a trip to Ashcroft’s former club next at East End Park – it’s now or never for James McPake’s side.
“We know ourselves we need to be a bit more consistent,” Ashcroft added.
“We seem to win one, lose win and we know that we need to be better than that.
“There are a lot of big games coming up against the teams round about us – Dunfermline and Raith Rovers – and it really is seven massive games for us between now and the end of the season.
“We need to win them if we want to try and get that second spot.”