Ross County winger Josh Mullin felt the Staggies drew upon their Championship title-winning traits to come from behind and defeat St Johnstone.
Coming from behind to win was a feature of County’s campaign last year, and Mullin feels their win in Perth was another strong show of character.
He said: “We didn’t make it easy for ourselves from the start. We gave away a sloppy penalty and it took us a wee while to get going after that.
“Once we got back in the game, I think we controlled it.
“We did it in a lot of games last year, so we know we have got that in the locker. If we can nullify the opposition’s strengths and we get our foothold in the game, we always know we will get chances. That is what happened.”
Mullin, who joined County from Livingston 12 months ago, knows the Staggies will face stiffer tests in the top flight this term, but the 26-year-old is confident the Dingwall men can hold their own.
He added: “What we saw at the start of the match was something different that we have not really come up against, with a team dominating us.
“St Johnstone have got some clever players who pick up very good positions.
“Once we nullified that, I think that’s where we kicked on.
“Even at half time when we spoke about it, we did the right things and the second half was more or less all us.”
County’s victory over Saints leaves them on the verge of confirming their qualification for the second round of the Betfred Cup.
The Staggies aim to maintain their 100% start in the competition when Forfar Athletic make the trip to Victoria Park on Wednesday.
Mullin feels reaching the last 16 will provide Stuart Kettlewell and Steven Ferguson’s men with a timely boost ahead of their Premiership opener at home to Hamilton Accies on August 3.
He said: “The confidence has just continued from last season.
“We have kept the nucleus of the squad, so I think everybody is still on a high, but we won’t get too comfortable because we know it’s going to be a tough task come August 3.
“We will just keep plodding away in these games and look towards the league.”