Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes admits that some strong half-time words were needed in order to get an important 2-1 Ladbrokes Premiership victory at St Mirren.
The scores were level at the break after Cammy MacPherson had cancelled out Stevie May's penalty, but the Dons soon seized the initiative in the second-half through Sam Cosgrove's header.
And McInnes says he was not slow to let his players know the importance of getting a reward for their endeavours.
"We said to the players at half-time that we were in danger of throwing away points," the Dons boss said.
"We were too untidy and played in the wrong areas. We've come all the way down from Aberdeen and our supporters were here in great numbers so it was great to make our effort worthwhile for them.
"I'm still looking for improvements but we can keep searching for that while we're winning games. If we can take nine points from our next three games then it will take us to where we normally are at the halfway stage."
The Dons have won six of their last eight in the league, and still have four more matches of a hectic December to go, but McInnes says he is glad to see them back near the top of the league.
"I've not enjoyed looking at the table this season," he said. "We've had to contend with injuries and I think we've played the youngest team in the Premiership this year. Sometimes you get inconsistencies with that.
"People say it's been a poor season for us but we've still managed to get to a cup final and now we're up to fourth and have a game in hand on a couple of teams."
St Mirren boss Oran Kearney is also hoping for a strong end to 2018 for his side.
The Northern Irishman is expected to bring in a number of signings in his first transfer window but he insists that the focus must remain on their three upcoming matches.
He said: "There's now nine points to play for before the winter break and it's important that we focus on getting as many out of that as possible. January will take care of itself.
"We're still in the mix at the bottom. It's ebbed and flowed and there's been a lot made of Dundee going ahead of us. The other teams in the league have had little runs of momentum and we're still craving our run of five or six matches.
"We have to be strong finishers this year. It's important that we keep building as we have over the past few months and then when it comes to January we'll aim to go up another level."
