Shankland hails team effort to end drop in standards

“To perform like that is a positive and, hopefully, we can take it into our next game and kick on again,” added Shankland.

“We will be looking for a few more points (to make the top six).”

If they hadn’t defeated the Staggies it could have been an altogether different story for the Terrors, who started the day just five points ahead of County in the relegation play-off spot.

Shankland admits the win was a weight off their shoulders after a poor run of form and says he is delighted they were able to bounce back after letting their standards drop.

“It was an important game for us,” he added.

“We all knew that going up there and we knew it was going to be tough. We were confident and we bounced back well.

“We owed ourselves that performance.

“It was a long run and there were a lot of draws in there which made it seem worse, especially when you are not winning.

“Some of the draws are just as disappointing and we were trying to bounce back after a disappointing result against Motherwell and so to go and get the three points, we are delighted.

“You want to win every game but it has not been the case.

“We’ve had disappointments in our last two games, in terms of results and performances, there is no getting away from that.

“We weren’t up to scratch and we needed to bounce back and I thought everybody, to a man, did that.

“Everybody played their part and that is what you need.”

It was a case of ‘if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again’ for Shankland on Saturday as he notched his fifth goal of the season after failing to convert two one-on-ones with County goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw in the first half.

The missed opportunities never knocked his confidence and now the United No 24 is targeting more.

“The first chance I got gifted with the boy missing the ball. My teammates and I, myself, would have been expecting me to take that chance,” he said.

“That was disappointing and the next one I was on the stretch but I probably could still have nicked it by him or chip it over him.

“Thankfully, we defended well and got in at half-time 0-0 and we managed to get there in the end.

“Ally McCoist used to say if you score one in three it is a good record, so I will take that.”

The striker continued: “I need to keep plugging away.

“It showed on Saturday, I gave up two chances but I got the goal eventually. “I probably scored with the hardest chance of them all.

“I had to take a good first touch to set myself up and I would say that’s the sign of a good striker!

“I was just delighted to see it hit the net and to win.”

Lawrence Shankland is congratulated on his performance by assistant boss Stephen Frail.