Dundee United winger Gary Mackay-Steven has urged his young teammates to stay and help create something special at Tannadice.
United’s old European Cup foes Roma had representative Massimo Tarantino at Saturday’s match and, after a cup of tea in the boardroom, the Italian watched Ryan Gauld and the rest of the Tangerines beat Hearts 4-1 at Tannadice.
That made it the first time since 1936 that they have scored four goals or more in a quartet of consecutive home fixtures.
They have now hit Motherwell, Partick Thistle and the Jam Tarts for four in the league, while Killmarnock had five flashed past them in the William Hill Scottish Cup.
United now sit in third spot in the Scottish Premiership, with Inverness Caley Thistle in their sights just three points ahead of them.
It is little wonder, then, that they made it a hat-trick of awards over the weekend, with Gauld’s recognition as young player of the month for November adding to the manager and player prizes for Jackie McNamara and Andrew Robertson.
With things going so well it is understandable that Mackay-Steven wants McNamara’s group to survive the January transfer window.
That won’t be easy, though, with Tarantino joined by another troop of English Premiership talent-spotters in the Tannadice stand.
Gauld, of course, is not the only exciting young United player catching the eye, with John Souttar, Andrew Robertson and Stuart Armstrong all starring for the Tangerines just now.
Mackay-Steven said: “These are exciting times for us. The manager has confidence in the young boys and if you are good enough then you are old enough.
“The young lads are making great leaps in the first team. They are just level-headed boys who are happy to play football and it’s like being in the playground at training. It’s great for them and they all have bright futures.
“However, from a selfish point of view I hope everyone stays in January, definitely, because I feel we can achieve something here.
“We are still in the Scottish Cup and there is everything to play for in the league so hopefully we can stick together.”
Mackay-Steven speaks with some authority on the subject of talented youngsters possibly moving on to the big time.
He left his Highland home as a mere 16-year-old to join English giants Liverpool but injury hampered him at Anfield.
He has done a terrific job of stepping back and then forward with his career and scored an excellent third goal on Saturday, while he made his full Scotland debut against the United States last month.
So he knows that there are different routes that you can take to find success, one of them being to stay at Tannadice, learn your trade then head to the bright lights.
“I haven’t spoken to them about moving or anything like that,” said Mackay-Steven, when asked if Gauld or Sunderland target Souttar had quizzed him over his time down south.
“But I would say that there isn’t really a right or wrong answer. I was 16 (when he went to Liverpool) and it can work out for you or it can’t.
“However, I feel being here is the best for everyone right now.”
Mackay-Steven believes being the best of the rest behind Celtic is now a realistic aim for United given the way they are playing.
“I think everyone in the changing room would say that second is the aim for us,” he added.