Malky Mackay is in no mood to stand still following a successful first season in charge of Ross County.
The Staggies came sixth in the Premiership, in their highest league placing since they last finished in the top half in 2016.
It was a fine achievement, following a slow start to the campaign in which County failed to win any of their opening 10 fixtures.
Despite missing out on a European place, it goes down as a hugely impressive impact from Mackay following his arrival last May.
It follows two successive 10th-placed finishes, with County only avoiding the relegation play-off spot on the final day of the 2020/21 season.
Mackay is not of a mind to reflect on how far the Dingwall outfit have come over the last 12 months, however, insisting he is only focused on prolonging his team’s success.
He said: “In high performance, you’ve got to keep driving forward.
“It’s the way it works as far as I’m concerned. It’s what makes people get more out of themselves that sometimes they don’t think they can do.
“To reflect is not something that I do too much to be honest. After a period of time we should reflect on where we are, over chunks of the season.
“But looking back at where we come from to where we are isn’t something I’ve actually thought about.”
No regrets following post-split fixtures
That put the Staggies firmly in contention for a first European place in the club’s history.
It proved to be their final victory of the campaign, however, with a return of just one point from their final five post-split matches seeing them miss out behind Dundee United and Motherwell for a place in the Europa Conference League qualifiers.
Mackay insists that did not take the gloss off his side’s season.
He added: “When we were at Aberdeen, there was a quick reflection from everyone at the football club, but obviously we wanted to drive on and see how high we could go.
“I have to say, in the last few games there certainly wasn’t a lack of effort from the team.
“Against Hearts at Tynecastle, I was very proud of them. Against Motherwell at home, we did everything but score – we dominated them.
“Then we played against the big two, and you want to play against them. The conversation is: ‘do you want to play a fourth game against Celtic and Rangers at the end of the season or not?’ Damn right I do.
“To put ourselves on that stage, that’s where I want the club to be.
“Certainly from within we have dispelled the idea of ‘little Ross County’. We were a team sitting fifth the day to the split, and ended the season as the sixth-best club in the country. That’s what we’ve got here.”