Neil McCann is confident that Kilmarnock can draw away from the William Hill Premiership drop zone after the split.
Killie remain in the relegation play-off berth but edged to within two points of St Mirren thanks to a dramatic 2-2 home draw with Dundee on Saturday.
McCann felt his team merited more than a point, even though they relied on Kelle Roos saving a stoppage-time penalty after an eight-minute VAR delay.
The ex-Dundee boss has steered the Ayrshire side to four wins and a draw from their last six Rugby Park contests, losing only to Celtic in injury-time.
Killie kick off their post-split schedule with a trip to Aberdeen a week on Saturday before hosting Dundee United.
McCann said: "It's five games we're going into after the break, so there's a lot of hard work ahead of us. But if they show how they played for most of the match – and the bravery they tried to play with – then I'm confident.
"The players are really disappointed. But it's not disappointment in the performance. We should have won; we were the better side. We've improved massively and played some brilliant football.
"Dundee didn't have to work hard for their second goal. It's a soft one conceded by our standards. But they will recover, have a couple of days off and there's no question they'll be positive coming back in."
