Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes hopes his players can be rallied by Saturday’s shock 4-1 loss to Ross County in their efforts to finish the season strongly.
The Dons suffered a bruising defeat in Dingwall, against a Staggies side which had been bottom of the Premiership prior to Saturday’s Victoria Park encounter.
The result means the Reds have now won just three of their last 11 games in all competitions.
Aberdeen were unable to make further ground on second-placed Celtic following their 0-0 draw at home to Livingston, with Hibernian’s 2-0 win over Kilmarnock seeing the Pittodrie side drop to fourth in the table.
The Dons still have two games in hand over Hibs however, while they are due to enter the Scottish Cup next month, with a date yet to be scheduled for their away tie against either Dumbarton or Huntly.
With plenty still at stake this term, McInnes is urging his side to show a strong reaction to their dismal day in Dingwall.
McInnes said: “It was a bad afternoon for us, but we have been pretty consistent throughout this season.
“We know if we can win our games in hand it takes us back into third spot. We have still got loads to play for.
“We can’t dress it up – it was a horrible afternoon for us. But I’m not going to go and lambast my players.
“Their attitude in terms of their work-rate was absolutely fine, but we’ve got to defend certain situations far better than what we did on Saturday. I was disappointed with the manner of the goals we lost.”
Aberdeen host Motherwell in their next outing on Saturday, with the sides having shared a 0-0 draw at Fir Park when they met last month.
The Dons’ misery against County was compounded by ankle injuries suffered by midfielders Ross McCrorie and Jonny Hayes, which resulted the pair leaving the ground on crutches.
McCrorie’s injury is of the most concern to McInnes, with the Reds boss eagerly awaiting the results of a scan.
Ash Taylor was also withdrawn due to a back spasm, however McInnes rates the defender of having a better chance of returning for the visit of the Steelmen.
The Reds will have winger Ryan Hedges available again however, having been suspended following his red card in the 2-1 loss to Rangers the previous weekend. McInnes is also hopeful of having Greg Leigh back in the fold, with the left back having been sidelined with a hamstring problem since the 1-1 draw with St Mirren on December 5.
McInnes hopes the returning players can provide a boost in the Reds’ efforts to get back on track, and he added: “It’s very hard to look at any sort of positives, but we will dust ourselves down and move on to Saturday and hopefully get a positive result.
“Ryan Hedges being back will be a bonus, and we potentially have Greg Leigh back as well.
“That will help things, but losing three key players on Saturday during the game was disappointing.”
Midfielder Scott Wright started against County, having been the subject of interest from Rangers in recent days.
The 23-year-old is out of contract and is free to speak to other clubs, with Gers manager Steven Gerrard indicating he is keen to strike a deal to take him to Ibrox this month.
McInnes says there has been no further movement, adding: “As far as I’m concerned, both myself and the chairman have heard no other contact from Rangers since the start of the week.
“They have made it clear Scott is a player they want to work with next season, and if they want to work with him for the rest of this season clearly it has got to be a good offer for us.
“Until that is the case we stay as we are, he’s our player. It would be good if we can get it resolved, but if not we’ve got to stay as we are.”