Ross County made it two wins out of two in Betfred Cup Group B with a comfortable 4-0 victory at Brechin.
A Ross Stewart double put the Staggies in charge at the break before Billy Mckay added a third four minutes into the second half.
County substitute Blair Spittal completed the scoring 15 minutes from time. Next up for County is a trip to Perth to face St Johnstone on Sunday.
An injury crisis meant Brechin manager Barry Smith, 45, returned to the pitch for the first time in eight years on Saturday, playing the full 90 minutes in his side’s 3-0 loss at Forfar.
The ex-Dundee boss left himself out of the line-up for last night’s encounter but former County defender Christopher McLaughlin started against his former side.
The visitors made six changes from the team that defeated Montrose 4-1 with Callum Morris, Billy Mckay, Iain Vigurs, Tom Grivosti, Simon Power and Harry Paton handed starting berths.
The Staggies started on the front foot with Josh Mullin almost opening the scoring with a stunning effort from distance that fizzed over.
The Hedgemen were struggling to deal with County’s superior movement with Power going close twice before Mckay rounded Brechin goalkeeper Paddy O’Neil but his shot was hacked off the line by Scott Reekie.
It seemed only a matter of time before County scored and they finally made the breakthrough after 33 minutes when Stewart took advantage of some statuesque defending to smash home from a Joe Chalmers corner.
The Staggies doubled their advantage a minute before the break when Stewart applied the finishing touch to a well-worked move, although Brechin goalkeeper O’Neil should have done better.
Only four minutes of the second half had elapsed when County notched their third when Stewart failed to connect properly with his left-footed shot but Mckay turned the ball home from close range.
Mckay passed up a chance to grab another after beating the Brechin offside trap before Ollie Hamilton was denied by Staggies stopper Ross Laidlaw on a rare home attack.
The Staggies made it four after 75 minutes on a quick counter when substitute Blair Spittal raced onto a terrific pass from Harry Paton before calmly slotting beyond the advancing O’Neil.
Brechin should have netted a consolation goal with 10 minutes to go when Lee Duncanson’s deep cross fell perfectly for Matthew Knox but he blasted over from six yards out.
Spittal almost got a second as time ticked down but O’Neil produced a fine stop to keep out his left-footed drive.
The hosts had the ball in the net with three minutes to go but Hill’s effort was chalked off for a foul on Laidlaw.
