Oli Shaw bagged a derby day brace to close in on his career best goals tally – then set his sights on firing Hamilton into the promotion play-off spots.
Accies climbed to seventh with a last-gasp win over Airdrie in a five-goal thriller.
Shaw struck in stoppage time, having also opened the scoring after 14 minutes, to move them 15 points clear of rock-bottom Airdrie and within 11 points of the top four.
And the double took Shaw to 14 goals for the campaign, putting him within two goals of his haul at Kilmarnock in 2021/22.
The Championship’s top goalscorer said: “To get 14 goals at this stage is great. I didn’t set any targets at the start of this season, I just wanted to come and enjoy myself.
“When you do that as a striker, you tend to score goals and that’s what I have discovered through my career so far.
“I don’t put too much pressure on myself. I want to help the team as much as I can and as long as I am scoring goals I think we’ll be heading in the right direction.
“I’m on track to beat my best and hopefully I keep scoring.
“We want to be looking up instead of down. We want to latch on to the teams above us so it is a massive win for us. We go to Morton next week full of confidence believing we can start the new year in the right way.
“I think with the squad we’ve got, why not look at the play-offs. We know it is going to be a tough task. Each game in this league is difficult but that is the aim.”
Shaw opened the scoring after 14 minutes with a predatory strike inside the box and Stuart McKinstry grabbed his first goal for the club in a pulsating first-half, which saw Airdrie twice peg back their rivals with goals from Chris Mochrie and Gavin Gallagher.
Shaw popped up to hook home from Reghan Tumilty’s cut back late on and he added:”I think we deserved it over the course of the game. We had a few chances and eventually the pressure paid off.
“I think the two goals we lost were poor and against the run of play, but the spirit in the team to come back after those setbacks was massive. We fight right to the end and that’s a credit to the boys.
“It is a great feeling getting a last minute winner in the derby just after Christmas, sending all the fans away happy. It’s a good day for everyone involved.
“I am having a good time here and I’ve got a smile on myself playing football here. I knew if I had a manager who trusted me, I’d score goals.”