Hamilton Accies hero Dylan McGowan says his penalty prowess took his new team-mates by surprise as he helped fire them into the fifth round of the Scottish Cup.
The Australian defender, on loan from Kilmarnock, dispatched his spot-kick with aplomb as Accies hit five perfect penalties to defeat Ross County 5-3 in a shootout, after the game had ended goalless over 120 minutes of football.
All of the Accies players kept their cool under pressure, in what has been a difficult season so far, with the side locked in a relegation battle at the bottom of the Scottish Championship.
And McGowan said: "I have taken a bit of stick off the boys in the dressing room after that shootout.
"They didn't think I had a pen in me so I must be training terribly!
"I have always taken penalties in shootouts. I've had ones in the League Cup in big games but I think it is important that the older boys take some responsibilty upon themselves and try and take a little bit of pressure off the younger ones.
"But, having said that, to go five out of five in a penalty shootout shows the boys have got good bottle - and we will certainly need that come the end of the season.
"It was a bit backs to the wall at times. We know they are a league above us and probably a good 10 places above us in Scottish football so we knew there would be times we had to dig in and give up a bit of possession.
"I thought we stuck to the game plan as good as we could and you have to ride your luck at times when you are playing against a side that is a wee bit better than us at the moment, so we got our rewards in the end."
McGowan arrived earlier this month to help shore up the Accies defence and since making his debut in a narrow 1-0 defeat at Ayr United, the club have now prevailed in their last three games on the bounce.
Boss John Rankin also handed the 31-year-old the captain's armband and he's relishing his leadership role at the club.
He added: "I was surprised [to get the captaincy]. It wasn't something that was spoken about before I came here but with the injury to Andy Ryan at the time and Easty being ill this week, it has just sort of come together.
"I've done it before at other clubs and I am enjoying it.
"I'm enjoying that little extra bit of responsibility and hopefully it is showing on the pitch.
"Considering where they club was beforehand, I think the window has been relatively successful so far.
"I think we are still looking to bring in one or two more that will help us.
"We know it is not dead or finished in the league and we are confident that we can keep progressing and hopefully that takes us out of trouble.
"We are going to need to go on a run.
"Hopefully this is a wee corner turned for us and we can take it into the league."
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