Jim Goodwin insists Aberdeen must make the most of their chance to make amends for a poor season.
The Dons recorded their first league win since Boxing Day with a 3-1 win against Hibernian at Pittodrie to move within two points of the top six.
The result gives Aberdeen renewed hope of finishing a disappointing campaign with a flourish and Goodwin has urged his side to build on his first win as Dons boss.
He said: “Today was really pleasing. We’ve had a really good couple of weeks with the players and their attitude and application in training has been excellent, exactly what we wanted.
“It means as a group we still have a chance to make amends for the season.
“The players are an honest group, they don’t need told what has happened hasn’t been acceptable for a club of this size.
“We’re in a position we shouldn’t be in with the quality we have in the squad.
“We’ve got time I think, we’ve got a couple of games to put it right if everything goes in our favour, albeit we are relying on other teams to do us a favour.
“We still believe we have a chance and we won’t give up, we’ll keep trying.”
Hibs boss unhappy with refereeing decisions
Hibs boss Shaun Maloney believes referee Alan Muir got two decisions wrong in the game as he believes the first penalty should not have been awarded.
Maloney believes defender Ryan Porteous also should not have been sent off for the foul on Ross McCrorie for the second half.
He said: “In the last half hour being down to ten men, it skews the feeling. But the game changed with two decisions.
“For the first penalty, the ball hits Rocky’s knee before it hit his arm. The rules mean it shouldn’t be a penalty.
“It was definitely a penalty with Ryan but he made a genuine attempt to win the ball, so he shouldn’t be red carded. The two decisions change the game.
“We weren’t playing fantastically well in the first half but Aberdeen weren’t creating much opportunities. The penalty changed that.
“People make mistakes, I think the referee thought Ryan didn’t make an attempt to win the ball but if you look at it back he does go for the ball.
“He gets the man so it’s a penalty, but the red card is incorrect.
“He (Muir) didn’t see the ball deflect off Rocky’s knee onto his arm. If he’s got that wrong he says he apologises. But people make mistakes.
“When we have moments like that, it’s very difficult. But that’s football.
“At the moment I think I will appeal it. We’ll look at it on Monday but for me it was incorrect. It’s disappointing because it has a big effect on the game.
“The other disappointing thing from the set-play is there is a free header, so the player should score in the first instance.
“Going down to 10 men makes it very difficult.”