Coach Totchtawan Sripan was elated by SCG Munag Thong United's 5-0 rout of Sukhothai in the season-opening Thailand Champions Cup clash on Sunday night but he refused to draw any conclusions from the romp.
The win at Supachalasai Stadium gave Thai League champions Muang Thong United their first title of the year after a dominant show.
Former national team midfielder Totchtawan said: "Despite the result, I would like to praise Sukhothai.
"They created a lot of problems for our players in the beginning and we were lucky to get the first goal early. It forced them to go on the attack which created openings for us.
"Overall, I am pleased that the players followed the game plan and it worked."
Xisco Jimenez's goal in the 20th minute opened the floodgates with Cleiton Silva (40th and 58th minutes), Sarach Yooyen (56th) and Teerasil Dangda (85th) adding to the scoreline.
The Kirins have a busy schedule ahead and Totchtawan said it was too early to start assessing his team's credentials based on their impressive victory over Sukhothai.
"We have to play a number of games before the Thai League starts [on Feb 11] and I want take things on a match-by-match basis," he said.
The Kirins play a Laos Premier League All Stars team tomorrow and then depart to take part in the Lunar New Year Cup in Hong Kong on Jan 28-31.
They close their pre-season stint with the Toyota Premier Cup battle against Japan's Sanfrecce Hiroshima on Feb 4 before meeting Bangkok Glass in their Thai League opener.
Meanwhile, Sukhothai coach Somchai Makmoon said: "We entered the match as underdogs and played like ones as well.
"We did well in the first 20 minutes but Muang Thong played better in the attack.
"We have several things to improve before the new season kicks off. It is good that we lost today and our weaknesses have been exposed by a stronger team."
Both Muang Thong and Sukhothai will be playing in the AFC Champions League.
Sukhothai face Yadanarbon of Myanmar in the second preliminary stage play-off on Jan 31, while the Kirins are in the group stage.
Thai League runners-up Bangkok United will also play in the ACL play-offs.
Formerly the King's Trophy match, the Thailand Champions Cup game pits the Thai League champions against the FA Cup winners.