City manager Michael O’Neill praised his side after they hauled themselves back into the play-off picture with a 5-0 hammering of bottom side Berwick.

He said, “It was a game we knew we had to win or we could kiss goodbye to the play-offs.

“Conditions were difficult and it was vital we got the first goal, playing against the wind.

“We scored two good goals in the first half, then in the second half we continued to play some good stuff and scored three more.

“It was another clean sheet as well and that is something we try to work on.

“We had five different goalscorers and that shows we are a very attacking team.

“Our midfield was packed with skill with guys like Darren Smith, Kevin Byers and Charlie King and Adam Nelson in particular was outstanding.

“There are goals in our team. It was unfortunate the two front boys, (Iain Diack and Michael Paton) didn’t score as they both did well, but it is nice when the goals are shared around.

“Calum Smith managed to nick one when he went on and we could have had more.

“We knew we needed to score to get on top of Berwick as they didn’t have much to play for.”

Brechin were denied a penalty four minutes from half-time when King was flattened in the box, but the manager was philosophical about the incident.

“From where I was it was a blatant penalty, but it didn’t affect the result so we won’t say too much about it.

“Peterhead lost and Alloa drew, so other results have gone our way.

“We now face Cowdenbeath who are fighting for their lives. If we can go there and win we could be right back in it.

“We lost a bit of momentum when we lost to Ross County, but we are back on track and we are are capable of winning all our remaining games. We have nothing to fear and we believe we can do it.’’