Ross County goalkeeper Scott Fox credited the Staggies coaching staff for the penalty shootout win against Arbroath which booked a place in the knockout stages of the Betfred Cup.
County were held to a 0-0 draw by the League 1 side in blustery conditions at Gayfield on Saturday, but won 5-4 on penalties to claim the bonus point.
It was their second successive shootout victory, having also earlier claimed a bonus point against group winners Hibs.
Midfielder Tim Chow netted the decisive pen-alty for Jim McIntyre’s men after Fox had made crucial saves from Ricky Little and David Gold.
The former Partick Thistle player hailed goalkeeper coach Scott Thomson and video analyst Fraser Gorman for doing their homework on the opposition.
Fox said: “They do a lot of work with me before the penalties.
“It’s not so much knowing what every player will do, but we had four or five names they felt would come up.
“For the one that went down the middle, from Ricky Little, Scott told me to stay up and that’s the trust I’ve got in him and it paid off.
“Those two are doing the work, I’m just taking the plaudits.
“We did it last year as well and I saved a few here and there.
“It’s working, and it’s just part of football now, a tool we can use.”
Fox accepted County were not at their best against the Red Lichties but was pleased his side did enough. The Staggies have been drawn at home to Motherwell in the second round and Fox added: “It was a tough game and the weather was not the best.
“We didn’t perform as well as we have done in the last couple of weeks, but at least we didn’t lose.
“We know we didn’t perform as well as we can and it was just hard to get going.
“The wind was crazy. I have played here before but I have never experienced it that strong. The pitch was quite dry as well and all things considered we’re happy to go through.”
Having failed to qualify from the group stage of last year’s competition, Fox hopes success this time around can spur them on to a good start in their league campaign which opens away to Dundee on Saturday.
The 30-year-old added: “The group we had was quite difficult but we’ve dealt with it well and kept four clean sheets, which is a positive.
“We are disappointed we did not win the game against Arbroath but maybe it’s the kick up the backside we need, so we are ready to go.”