Midfielder Jonny Hayes insists the best is yet to come after making his 100th appearance for Aberdeen.
The Irishman celebrated the milestone with another fine display against Hamilton Accies on Saturday in what has been an excellent season for him so far at Pittodrie.
The win moved the Dons up to fourth in the Scottish Premiership and Derek McInnes’ side can go level on points with third-placed Dundee United if they win at Tannadice on Saturday.
But Hayes, who has scored 11 goals in his century of matches for the club, believes his club has yet to reach its peak in this campaign.
He said: “There is a lot more to come from us. The manager said that last year when we won the League Cup and that’s still the case.
“I don’t think we’ve gone into top gear yet. We’ve been in and out of form. A lot was made when we lost to Hamilton earlier in the season, but that was a one-off game and we can make up for that in the league.
“We didn’t want to be known as a side that will go away and lose 3-0.
“We want to be a tough to beat team. If somebody scores against us they’re going to have to score more than one because we have players who can score goals.”
Hayes has sacrificed his natural attacking instinct for the good of the team on occasion this season by filling in at left back.
The former Caley Thistle player has proven himself equally adept at the defensive role as he is with his rampaging runs from the flanks, and he knows keeping the opposition out is every bit as important as scoring.
He said: “The manager tweaked some things in training and I was in defence for some games which I enjoyed and when you looked at teams over the course of the season every one that’s had a good season has had a basis of a good defence.
“We realised while it was good playing in high-scoring games it was only so long before we’d slip. The 3-0 defeat at Hamilton showed that.
“We’ve now had five clean sheets in our last six league games which shows we’re getting back to where we want to be.”