Hamilton boss Alex Neil was pleased to see his side book their place in the second round of the League Cup with a 2-1 win over Arbroath - but admits they must improve before taking on Inverness.
Goals from Dougie Imrie and Louis Longridge secured the win at New Douglas Park, with the League Two side pulling a goal back in the last minute through Kevin Buchan.
Neil was satisfied with his side's efforts overall but knows they face a much tougher challenge when their Scottish Premiership campaign gets underway with the visit of the Highlanders.
He said: "It's job done and we are through to the next round of the cup but we know we are going to have to pick up the pace of our game for next week.
"You find that good players tend to rise to the occasion and I'm hoping that will be the case next week."
He added: "I thought we totally controlled the match.
"They got a goal against the run of play once we had brought some of the younger boys on.
"I was a bit disappointed with the last five minutes but we controlled the game and had loads of the ball.
"It was just a case of breaking down a team that were well-organised and sat in and made it as difficult as they could."
Arbroath boss Allan Moore had no complaints about the performance of his players despite the defeat.
He said: "I'm proud of the boys. We have played opposition who are a couple of leagues above us and we knew it would be difficult coming here.
"I'm disappointed that we went a goal down so early in the game but I'm proud of the boys for the way they stuck by the task."
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Hamilton eased into the second round of the League Cup after Dougie Imrie marked his competitive debut with a goal in a 2-1 win against Arbroath.
The forward, who spent two years at New Douglas Park previously before returning to the club in the summer, set the tone with the opener after just three minutes.
The Red Lichties never really looked like causing an upset and there was no way back when Louis Longridge netted Accies' second goal with just over 20 minutes to go.
It was the ideal start to the season for Hamilton, who get their Scottish Premiership campaign under way with the visit of Inverness next week.
Boss Alex Neil had bolstered his squad over the summer ahead of their return to the top flight and goalkeeper Michael McGovern, Danny Redmond and Imrie were all handed their competitive debuts.
The match was just three minutes old when Hamilton surged into the lead thanks to Imrie.
He met fellow new signing Redmond's pass just outside the area and sent an angled drive into the far bottom corner.
Accies continued to pile on the pressure and Redmond was not too far away with a header after being set up by Ziggy Gordon.
There was a further setback for Arbroath when they were forced to make their first change after 25 minutes when Johnny Lindsay picked up what appeared to be a groin injury and was replaced by Kieran Stewart.
Accies were threatening again when Grant Gillespie released Longridge with a lovely pass, and he found himself one on one with the goalkeeper but David Crawford was able to block.
Longridge had the chance to make amends just before the break when he met Redmond's corner but nodded just wide of the upright.
The home side still looked dangerous after the break and Jason Scotland sent a decent effort whistling inches wide.
At the other end, the visitors carved out their first real chance of the game when Bobby Linn's cross was met by the head of Scott McBride but he nodded past the post.
Accies should have doubled their lead with an hour on the clock but Longridge was wasteful with a great opportunity that fell wide when it looked easier for him to find the back of the net.
But it was Longridge who eventually put the tie beyond Arbroath when he grabbed Hamilton's second goal of the day after 69 minutes.
Gordon picked out Longridge with a ball from the right and he controlled the pass before slotting low past Crawford.
Arbroath did pull a goal back through substitute Kevin Buchan's header in the final minute but it was too little too late.