Dundee United’s Gary Mackay-Steven insists the best is yet to come from him this season.
The winger has been in fine form of late and scored another cracking goal as the Tangerines ran riot against Inverness on Sunday in the Scottish Cup quarter-final.
As he prepared for tonight’s league game against St Johnstone, Mackay-Steven admitted he is still demanding more of himself and revealed there is a belief throughout the United squad that they have not reached the top of their game just yet.
Mackay-Steven said: “We obviously wanted to win the cup tie but to do it so convincingly was extra nice. We’re feeling confident right now and the games can’t come quickly enough for us.
“I still think there is a lot more to come from me. I feel I’m playing quite well but I believe I can raise the level yet.
“I think a lot of the boys in the dressing-room feel that although we’re playing well and winning, everyone believes there’s still more to come.
“On a personal level, I definitely feel like I can help the team a little bit more. So hopefully I can do that in the coming weeks.
“You want to hit form at the business end of the season. We know we’ve got a lot of big games coming up now.
“That’s great for us and I would hope that in the next few weeks we can all kick on.”
Mackay-Steven’s counter on Sunday in the Highlands took his goal tally for the season up to nine.
He revealed that he is gunning for a lot more, having set himself a tough target at the start of the campaign.
He said: “I was chuffed with my goal and it’s always nice to get on the scoresheet. I’ve set myself a target this season to score more goals and I’ve netted a few.
“I think I’ve got nine so far but there are definitely more goals in me. I feel that with the chances we are creating, there are goals to be had in every game.
“We’re creating chances as a team. I’ve set myself a target of getting 15 so I’m getting there. It’s achievable as far as I’m concerned.
“Hopefully with the chances I’m creating I can even get past that mark but that’s the target I’m setting right now.”
Mackay-Steven expects St Johnstone will be difficult opponents, with the Perth side winning 3-0 the last time the teams met at McDiarmid Park at the end of December.
And the player pinpointed Saints striker Stevie May, who scored all three goals in that game, as the man United will have to keep quiet.
He said: “Saints are always tough opponents. We’ve beaten them this season and they’ve also beaten us.
“It will be tight as they’re coming into some good form as well. But we hope to get on the front foot early and take the game to them.
“Stevie May has shown he’s a danger to any team with the amount of goals he’s scored this season.
“But our defence has been shutting up shop recently and we will be looking to do the same to him.”
Former Scotland, Leeds and Liverpool star Gary McAllister recently said young stars in this country including United’s Stuart Armstrong and Mackay-Steven should head for England as soon as they can.
But GMS feels he is still learning a lot from the management team at the club although he did not rule out a move down south in the future.
He said: “I feel I’m really improving my game under Jackie McNamara, Simon Donnelly and Darren Jackson. They’ve helped me so much by developing different parts of my game. I feel I’m improving a lot here.
“I think in the future every player wants to reach as high as they can and England is the best place for that. There are so many big clubs down there. That’s the aim for the future but right now I feel good things are happening here.
“I’m out of contract next summer so we’ll see what happens. I’m not sure what the future holds. I just want to do well every week for the club and see where that takes me.
“I come in every day to work on certain things in training and feel as though I’m improving.”