Hamilton Accies striker Andy Winter says his side 'battered' Championship leaders Ayr United, and proved they can fight their way off of bottom spot.
And the 20-year-old says they have a point to prove to everybody in the league that they're in a false position.
It was a frustrating evening for John Rankin's side, as they twice drew level, only to concede a late penalty clincher that moved the Honest Men six points clear at the top.
And Winter said: "We were the better team in the game and as soon as we start building momentum we've conceded again.
"We're always looking at the positives. There's no point in being doom and gloom, especially after you've battered the top of the league.
"We know if we play like that every week we will not be in the situation that we're in right now.
"We've got a point to prove against everyone this season because there's no way we should be in the situation we're in right now.
"But we are there, and we've got to show that we're better than that, every week."
Dipo Akinyemi got Ayr off and running four minutes in as he latched onto Andy Ryan's slack pass and bulleted a shot into the bottom corner.
Accies responded with a few chances and Jean-Pierre Tiehi was unlucky to see a shot cannon off the bar and bounce over the line, only for it not to stand.
They did draw level five minutes into the second half through Steve Lawson's penalty after Winter was tripped by Sean McGinty.
![](https://i2-prod.dailyrecord.co.uk/incoming/article28471883.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/0_Hamilton-Academical-v-Ayr-United-Cinch-Scottish-Championship.jpg)
However, Akinyemi thundered a shot into the roof of the net from a cross by sub Finn Ecrepont in 69 minutes.
Ecrepont then scored an own-goal to draw Accies level again in 80 minutes, but two minutes later Dan O'Reilly's crazy challenge on Alex Kirk resulted in Ben Dempsey scoring a penalty winner.
Winter admitted: "That's a few times this season we've conceded quite quickly after we've scored, and it's hard to get yourself going again.
"We've done it in the game twice, and that's probably the most frustrating thing.
"We worked hard and were by far the better team in the game, but we weren't ruthless enough in our own box.
"We could have scored more goals as well, and we've got to take our chances, but we've got to defend better."
On Tiehi's 'disallowed' goal, Winter said: "If you're down there you don't get any luck.
"It's in, everyone knows it's a goal, but there's no point in crying about it now. It's done, the referee has made his mistakes, but we're all human.
"We've got to just keep battling away. We feel hard done-by in there, but there's nothing we can do now.
![](https://i2-prod.dailyrecord.co.uk/incoming/article28471884.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/0_Arbroath-FC-v-Hamilton-Academical-Cinch-Scottish-Championship.jpg)
"It's done, and we've just got to keep going."
Attention now turns to a visit to Dens Park on Saturday, and Winter hopes his side can show the same battling qualities that nearly got them a point against Ayr.
He said: "If we play like we did today we'll get something from that game.
"We obviously feel flat right now, because we've battled really hard out there and we've not got anything to show for it.
"But we'll be in this week and there's no way we'll be thinking about that, come next week."
Follow Lanarkshire Live Sport on Twitter via @LanLiveSport, like us on Facebook or find us on Instagram for the latest sports news, pictures and video.