JOHN HUGHES insists Athletic won't get carried away with their thumping win over Partick Thistle but is enthused by a "collective spirit" around the club.

After six matches without a victory, the Pars roared back from a goal down to beat the Jags 4-1 and move off the bottom of the Championship table.

Ross Docherty's fifth minute strike for Ian McCall's visitors was swiftly cancelled out by Lewis Mayo's own goal, before Matty Todd and Josh Edwards put Dunfermline 3-1 up at the break.

Dom Thomas added a fourth late on to secure the points, which have also moved the Pars to within three of third bottom Ayr United, and safety.

READ MORE: Pars rout Jags to boost survival hopes

Speaking post-match, Hughes felt that it was a result that has been brewing over recent weeks, particularly after a dominant display at home to Morton on Friday night only yielded a draw.

"It's not just Friday night, it's been a long time coming, a long time before that," he said.

"4-1, we've always said that we'll score goals, and tonight, they've went in. The difference tonight was our crossing was very very good, and I felt in the first half, our passing was really, really good in terms of just cutting it in.

"As I say, when you score the goals, it gives you a hand. I'm delighted. At this football club, since I've come, from the boardroom right down, there's a real, collective togetherness, and everybody wanting the same thing, the same objective. We're all on the same path.

"We know where we are. We're not getting carried away with the result tonight, we know where we are. We know the consequences, we have to win football matches,but I just feel it.

"Right from the top, there's a real collective spirit and we're all helping each other.

"I think the boys have signed up for that and the environment which we're trying to create. When you give the fans that entertainment, then it's a good place to be.

"I keep saying that it's difficult when you feel that you're doing a lot of things right in the games, and it's been like that for a while now. You need to keep believing in the process, what we're doing and the philosophy, carry on what we have been doing.

"They worked very hard on the training pitch to try and get it right, and when it comes off, it's very, very pleasing.

"We weren't far away on Friday night, so it was a matter of 'come on, can you go again' and, to be fair to them, they did go again in the first half.

"We lost a soft goal, but showed character, resilience and a wee bit of resolve to come back and get back into it, and at 3-1 at half-time, you could say the game's dead and buried.

"We were fully switched on for that and we had to manage it in the second half. It might not have been flying forward, on the front foot, but it was getting about it, second balls, helping each other, doubling up, and playing a wee bit more on the counter-attack.

"And when we did it, Dom got his goal. You always know we've got players that get in there, and Dom got his goal. I wish it was a wee bit earlier just to take that off, but a real good performance. I'm absolutely delighted for them."

When asked what that result would do for the confidence of his players, Hughes replied: "I don't get carried away. In football, every game's different.

"You enjoy it for the night, maybe tomorrow, and then you come back and you have to be grounded and humble.That's the message I'll be saying to the players; keep yourself grounded,keep yourself humble,keep yourself in the zone.

"That's why I'm optimistic because I know if we're at it, and do the right things, we're capable of winning every match from now until the end of the season.

"But football's got a habit if you stick your head too much above the parapet, it'll take it off. Keep our feet firmly on the ground, we enjoy tonight, look forward to one game at a time and look forward to Inverness."

Last night's game also saw goalkeeper Deniz Mehmet play his first game since August, with on loan Leicester City stopper, Jakub Stolarczyk, on international duty with Poland's under-21s, and Hughes was pleased with his contribution.

"We had a dillema there because he's not done too much," he added.

"That goes down to the staff and Neilly Alexander for working him, and we put him through his paces in small-sided games really. He's just coming back from that injury as well; I thought he was very, very good."

Thistle counterpart McCall accepted that Dunfermline were worthy winners, but was frustrated with what he felt were "too many individual errors".

"The first goal was an own goal; Lewis' position was really good, and he's just got to clear it, but Dunfermline deserved to win. Simple as that," he said.

"There was nothing in the game second half but we didn't make a chance. We did at the end of the first half, I thought the last 10 minutes.

"The only plus point, we got (Scott) Tiffoney 75 minutes, and he came through it fine, but there aren't many plus points.

"But, I've got to say, let's have a bit of perspective here. We're chasing promotion through the play-offs; Dunfermline, a similar sized club, are trying to stop going down. A wee bit of perspective is maybe needed. I think the players have been fantastic.

"Is it a coincidence that three, certainly two, very poor results have come at the end of 10, 11 games? I don't know. That's for other people to decide.

"I thought we started the game really well, scored a goal, and then made a mistake. The first half, apart from the last 10 minutes, it was just littered with mistakes from us, in dangerous areas.

"Dunfermline really deserved to win. Whether it was 4-1, I'm not so sure, but they deserved to win."

Hughes added that Steven Lawless needed stitches to a cut he sustained late in the game, whilst Lewis McCann's shoulder injury against Morton was not a dislocation, and is set to be in contention for Saturday's trip to Inverness.