Scott Brown praises Ayr United for digging deep to ignite Championship title race

Scott Brown hailed Ayr United for doing the dirty work as they moved within striking distance of the Championship summit.

United recorded a statement win on the road last night as their recent run of good form continued with victory at Dunfermline.

Second half goals from Jay Henderson and George Oakley kept the momentum rolling as the Honest Men earned a vital three points, with Brown praising his side's ability to come through a tricky first half in Fife.

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He said: "We changed our shape a little towards half time and started to get our press right - and once we did that I thought we took control of the game.

"Dunfermline had won a lot of battles until that point and we were maybe a bit naive in pinging the ball forward...just hoping that big Geo would bring it down. That's not really us.

"Once we started building from the back in the second half, we were far more disciplined. They never looked like troubling us. It wasn't about shouting and screaming at half time, that only gets you so far.

"It's more about having the understanding of what you're doing and there has to be a method to the madness. But the lads are brilliant at taking the information on board.

"Sometimes it's about not playing well and finding a way to win - you need to do the nasty side of the game and I thought we did that. Later in the game we could have scored another couple of goals with a bit more quality in the final third."

Brown also highlighted the impact of Connor McLennan, who had a key hand in both goals and continued his recent run of fine performances.

The boss said: "Connor is a fantastic player who I know well from Aberdeen. I know why we brought him in and it's because he can deliver big moments like that. His hold up play and work off the ball is brilliant and his game management is exceptional."

Ayr now head to Broxburn in the Scottish Cup on Saturday, with Brown keen to guard against a repeat of the slip up against fellow Lowland League side East Kilbride back in November.

That defeat sparked the change in Ayr's fortunes, with United having lost just once since that bleak night at K-Park.

Brown said: "Saturday will be a hard game. They are a physical team who are direct and have three decent strikers so we'll need to stand up to that and be ready for it. We'll rest, recover and go again and we know all about the challenges having been beaten this season at a Lowland League team. We don't want that to happen again."