Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes admitted his side have their sights set on a return to Hampden Park after they got their Scottish Cup campaign underway with a deserved 2-0 victory over Dundee.
Killie flew out of the traps in their first game for three weeks, with Kyle Vassell prodding home the opener inside 20 seconds and Marley Watkins adding a second with a header two minutes later.
The hosts reached the semi-finals of the League Cup last season, before falling at the quarter-final stage in the Scottish Cup last term and the League Cup this time around.
McInnes – whose side have beaten both Celtic and Rangers already this campaign – insisted his team had the confidence to reach the latter stages once again.
He said: “It was a brilliant start. When the draw was made it was such a tough cup tie for both teams. You see other games are a bit more simplistic on paper and you’re always mindful coming back after a break.
“As daft as it sounds, although we got off to such a strong start, I thought we looked a bit rusty. We were maybe not quite game ready but we scored two very good goals and we got ourselves in front.
“The intention is to try and get to Hampden of course. That’s the intention, that’s the hope. The one thing about today’s game against a tough opponent is it was a home tie. You are obviously looking for that again.
“Last season we lost to Celtic in a semi-final but never managed to beat the Old Firm. This season we’ve beaten all the best teams in Scotland and we’ve shown on our day we have a performance in us that can beat anyone.
“It’s important we have the confidence to deal with cup ties wherever it takes you, whether it’s at a challenging place or if you are favourites at home. It’s important to have the motivation, the intention and the confidence to try and go all the way.”
Dundee manager Tony Docherty, meanwhile, bemoaned his side’s slow start as they failed to recover from the two early blows.
The Dens Park boss also took exception to Luke McCowan’s disallowed goal which would have halved the deficit inside the opening 10 minutes.
He said: “You can’t expect to come to a place like this and give away two goals within two minutes but I have to give huge credit to the players for doing what they did after that.
“We had a perfectly-good goal chalked off for offside. I don’t know why. The referee said Dara Costelloe was offside but he was nowhere near the ball when it went in.
“The players put in a real honest endeavour to get back into the game and I thought that was a really pivotal point to get to 2-1.
“It was a mountain to climb but I have to give credit to the players for giving the effort that they did.”
Arsenal's improved form after Odegaard's return 'not a coincidence', says Arteta
Mikel Arteta insisted it was "not a coincidence" that Martin Odegaard's presence led Arsenal to a 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest in one of their best performances of the season.
Arsenal's win was their 2,000th in English top-flight history, making them just the second side to reach this milestone after Liverpool (2,068).
Odegaard had been sidelined through injury since September with an ankle injury sustained while on international duty with Norway.
He returned to the starting line-up last time out against Chelsea and now has two assists from two since his return after setting up Bukayo Saka for the opener against Forest.
Arsenal ran out comfortable winners after Thomas Partey and Ethan Nwaneri extended their lead and Arteta is confident the influence of his captain helped.
"It's not a coincidence. The team flows in a different way when [Odegaard] is playing," he told BBC MOTD.
"I think we started really well. The sense I was getting in the last 48 hours after the international break, the boys coming together and were all at it.
"It was good to see the impact of the substitutes [Thomas Partey - goal; Ethan Nwaneri - goal; Raheem Sterling - assist]. Everyone has to feel important. It was a good afternoon."
Partey grabbed Arsenal's second just seven minutes after entering the pitch, curling into the left corner from outside the box following Arteta's half-time swap for Jorginho.
Four of Partey's seven Premier League goals have come from outside the box. Of all Arsenal players to score more than five goals in the competition, he’s the only one to net more than half from outside the box.
Arteta had particular praise for fellow goalscorer Nwaneri, who, at 17 years and 247 days, became Arsenal’s second youngest-ever Premier League goalscorer, behind only Cesc Fabregas in August 2004 (17y 113d).
"He is the second youngest [Premier League goalscorer] in our history. That's a story in itself. He's brave. You see the reaction of fans, and they were singing 'he's one of our own'," added the Arsenal boss.
"I think we have to put brick by brick and make sure the cement doesn't get dry. Hopefully, we can build a beautiful thing with him."
Arsenal outplayed their opponents, leading them on expected goals (xG) with a total of 1.4 compared to Forest's 0.4 xG.
"On a day like this, you need to be solid defensively and take your chances. Ultimately it was not good enough, and it was three relatively easy goals for them," James Ward-Prowse told Sky Sports.
"We are going to have to improve our defensive structure."
Hurzeler delighted by Brighton 'togetherness' in battling win
Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler was in fighting mode at full-time as he praised the Seagulls' "togetherness" in their 2-1 win away at Bournemouth.
Hurzeler's charges signed off for the international break with a 2-1 home victory over defending champions Manchester City, and they mirrored the scoreline at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday thanks to Joao Pedro and Kaoru Mitoma.
Despite his expansive and high-wire tactical approach receiving plenty of praise so far this season, it was Brighton's mental strength that caught the eye late on, after being reduced to ten players in the 59th minute through Carlos Baleba's red card.
It set up a nervy finale for the visitors, which included a 93rd-minute consolation goal from David Brooks and Antoine Semenyo smacking the bar, but the grit to get the result over the line pleased the Brighton manager.
"We have to see the performance from different viewpoints," he told Sky Sports.
"From one side of things, it was not the best football game from ourselves, but it was a good game to prove our togetherness, to show we can suffer together and defend together - that's why I'm proud of my team.
"The other side is that we can play better football. In some moments, we were lucky, in some moments, Bournemouth were better. Of course, the red card changes the game for me. That's why I am proud. We can play better football.
"We also had really good moments, we tried to play our from the back even when the pressure was really high. That's why I was pleased with some moments, but not with the whole game."
Hurzeler was also left frustrated by Stuart Attwell's decision to dismiss Baleba for a second yellow card with the visitors 2-0 in front.
"It's a clear thing. It can't be a yellow card the second one, never ever," he added. "Hopefully the referee will look at this and make a decision, and they take back the yellow card, because honestly, that's never a yellow card."
Victory moves Brighton up to fifth in the Premier League table - their highest position since mid-October - with struggling Southampton next up for Hurzeler's side.
Sunderland go top of Championship despite late draw with Millwall
Sunderland leapfrogged Sheffield United back to the top of the Championship table after their 1-1 draw with Millwall on Saturday.
Aaron Connelly had given Sunderland the lead just 10 minutes in, benefitting from a clearance to beat Lukas Jensen on the volley and claiming his first goal for the club before the players were taken off the field for half an hour due to two medical emergencies in the crowd.
Millwall were a different side when they came back out onto the pitch, with Anthony Patterson having to pull off a string of fine saves to preserve Sunderland's lead.
The hosts eventually got a deserved goal in the 93rd minute though, as Femi Azeez stabbed home Aidomo Emakhi's cross for his first Millwall goal.
It is a fourth consecutive draw for Sunderland, who sit above Sheffield United on goal difference, while Millwall stay eighth.
Elsewhere, Middlesbrough moved back into the playoff places with a thumping 6-2 victory over Oxford United.
A hat-trick from Emmanuel Latte Lath, a double from Finn Azaz and another from substitute Tommy Conway saw Boro score six goals in an away league game for the first time in 64 years.
Greg Leigh had given the hosts a surprise lead, and though Dane Scarlett halved the deficit with his second-half goal to make it 4-2, they could not mount a comeback, leaving them 18th in the table, while Middlesbrough jumped up to fifth.
Meanwhile, Luton Town eased some of the pressure on manager Rob Edwards with their 1-0 win over struggling Hull City to move out of the drop zone.
Mark McGuiness scored the only goal of the match in the 33rd minute, brilliantly volleying his maiden Hatters goal in to help Luton move up to 16th.
Hull could not find a winner, despite Joao Pedro hitting the post in the first half, and they dropped into the relegation zone as their winless run extended to eight matches.
Norwich City are on a run of seven games without a win after playing out an entertaining 2-2 draw with West Brom.
Emiliano Marcondes and an own goal from Torbjorn Heggem gave Norwich the lead after Mason Holgate's early opener, but Josh Maja's 10th goal of the campaign cancelled out their lead just before half-time to earn them a point.
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