The manager was full of praise for his side as they regained winning form on Saturday against Dunfermline.
Within a year, Scott Brown has taken Ayr from battling relegation to battling for a return to the promised land of Scottish football.
As a player, Brown was fiercely competitive, as decorated as they come, and few people enjoyed the fight more than he did.
Now, though, he admits that viewing long term progress over short term results from the dugout has required the more mellow side of his character to shine through.
He’s needed it recently with Ayr’s Championship title challenge driven off course by a three game winless run at a crucial period.
United bounced back to form to regain vital momentum with Saturday’s 3-0 win over Dunfermline – a result that ensures they will continue to keep Falkirk honest in the flag race.
Ayr, now assured of the play-offs at least, have made rapid headway under Brown and Steven Whittaker since their arrival 14 months ago – and the hugely ambitious pair know the next few weeks will be exciting for all concerned.
Brown told the Ayrshire Post: “Saturday was good. The lads were much more like themselves and showed a real understanding of the gameplan.
“We’ve had a tendency to overplay recently and make things difficult for ourselves. But that can always come from a lack of experience and when you have a few younger lads in the team, sometimes you just need the more experienced voices to calm things down.
“I thought Nick McAllister was a good example of that against Dunfermline. He’s still only 24 but is a real talker on the pitch and that helps those around him. He went up against their strikers really, really well.”
Brown knows Ayr have given themselves an unlikely task of overhauling Falkirk’s eight point lead with just five games left to play. But with the Bairns visiting Somerset next Friday night, he’d like to give them cause for the jitters.
He said: “Listen, football is a crazy, crazy game at times. At this stage of the season it’s all about momentum. All we can do is go out and win the games we have left.
“Whatever happens elsewhere is out of our hands but we need to do our job first and foremost.
“If it’s the play-offs then so be it, but we need to ensure we have that momentum and finish as strong as we possibly can.”
