Hamilton Accies boss John Rankin says penning a contract extension at the club before the play-offs put him and his players at ease, and helped inspire their promotion to the Championship.
The New Douglas Park side sealed an immediate return to the Championship last night with a superb showing in the Highlands, which saw them run out 3-2 winners over Inverness in the second leg and 5-3 victors on aggregate.
Over the course of the four play-off matches, Accies netted 10 goals and produced impressive displays to first see off a battling Alloa in the semi-finals before downing Duncan Ferguson's Caley Jags.
That came hot on the heels of the news that Rankin and his assistant has signed a three-year contract extension with the club, which did not go down well with some sections of the support after the club were beaten to the League One title by Falkirk and their Championship status was far from guaranteed.
However, after taking Accies straight back up and sending his old side down, Rankin says the decision by new Accies owner Seref Zengin to hand him a new deal was a catalyst for their play-off success.
He told Lanarkshire Live Sport : "There has been a lot of doubts from the supporters when we got relegated last season and I totally understand that. But hopefully this goes a long way in terms of the players that are still here and the coaching staff behind me, now we have made sure we got back to where we want to be right now.
"When you go into a play-off not knowing how it is going to go, you can be anxious. But having that mindset that I will be here next season and the players know that I am going to be here as well, that makes them want to stay here and want to commit and work hard for you.
"There are discussions
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