Robbie Deas says Kilmarnock players "needed a telling off" to help turn around their form this season.
Killie travel to face Hibs on Saturday with the chance to exit the relegation play-off spot following their back-to-back wins over Livingston and table-toppers Hearts before the international break.
Defender Deas attributes Neil McCann's appointment as a key reason for the club's recent upturn.
"We needed a telling off as well. It's not been good enough," he said.
"I was lucky enough to work with the gaffer and both Doddsy [Billy Dodds, assistant] before in the past. They know what I was like as a player and they spoke to me in detail.
"He's restored a lot of belief in the boys. A lot of confidence was lost, especially in that run that we went on.
"I think you can feel that around the place on a Saturday when the game is finished, against Hearts and against Livingston. There's a lot of big lift about the place and that's down to the players, down to the staff and the coaching team."
Killie are 11th – level on points with St Mirren and three behind Aberdeen, with the pair facing off against each other this weekend. However, the defender is only concentrating on his own side.
"It's completely focused on us and who we're playing and that's this Saturday against Hibs," he said.
"It's Scottish football for you, it's difficult. There's no point in worrying about other results, it's only in our hands.
"We've got ourselves in a situation that's not good and our full focus is each game at hand and getting points on the table to get this club safe.
"But I think we need to put on edge as well. We're not shying away from the situation we're in, but we've got belief that we can complete the job at hand.
"I think you can see that in the last two performances, but we need to take that into Saturday."
