Malky Mackay felt Ross County showed the desired response following a slow start in their Viaplay Cup match against Morton.
The Staggies were forced to come from behind, after former Caley Thistle striker George Oakley put the Championship side ahead before the break.
Second half goals from Jay Henderson and Simon Murray secured the points for the Dingwall side though, to put them firmly in command of Group D.
County are now ahead of Ton on goal difference, however Dougie Imrie’s men have just one match remaining compared to the Staggies’ two.
Mackay’s side will finish the section with games against League One sides Edinburgh City and Kelty Hearts in the coming days.
The Staggies boss insists his side had to grow into the game against a tricky Ton side at Victoria Park.
He said: “I knew how hard that game was going to be. I spoke to the players all week concerning it.
“I think Morton will do really well this year. They were a tough team, and we knew they would battle.
“We had to match that and we didn’t do it enough in the first half.
“We were getting enough contacts but not winning enough second balls.
“If you don’t win second balls you won’t win any game.
“We felt with the wind, if we got the ball into wide areas with Jay Henderson, which we did, he would deliver.
“We got on the front foot and put that pressure on them, which gave us the momentum for the two goals.
“It was a great finish from Jay and I thought Simon Murray’s was terrific.
“We got into it in the second half and our players got up to where they should have been in the first half.”
Staggies boss thrilled to have squad depth
Morton are County’s only full-time opponent from their section, with County’s win ensuring they have taken maximum points from their two opening games.
Mackay believes the nature of the win will stand his side in good stead for the weeks ahead.
He added: “We’ll take a massive amount from that. This is the fourth game counting friendlies and the League Cup means a lot to us, but at the same time these are the games that have replaced pre-season friendlies.
“It is about getting everybody minutes.
“Victor Loturi is two minutes back from Canada. Will Nightingale is just in the door. James Brown hasn’t played a 90 minutes in a while and I thought he was terrific.
“To go into a really important game and get the win against a Championship team who were always going to test us, takes us into Wednesday night nicely.
“We’ve got two games to go and our focus is purely on making sure we win both games and top the group.”
