Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin says the Dons must show they can handle the flak which has followed their 3-2 defeat to Motherwell.
The Reds surrendered a 2-1 lead to suffer a deserved loss against the Steelmen at Pittodrie.
It stopped the Dons’ momentum in its tracks, after the previous weekend’s 4-1 win over St Mirren.
Goodwin’s men drew widespread plaudits for their attacking display in the emphatic victory against the Buddies.
It followed a successful Premier Sports Cup group campaign, in which the Reds won all four matches without conceding a goal.
Goodwin has overseen a vast summer rebuild, with 11 new additions to the Pittodrie squad.
Although he has noted some of the praise that has come their way in the opening weeks of the campaign, the Dons boss insists they must take the rough with the smooth.
Goodwin said: “We will take the criticism that comes our way. There have been a lot of plaudits recently. We had a great League Cup group stage, we won all those games quite convincingly.
“We had a good performance last weekend against St Mirren and got plenty pats on the back for some of the individual play, and collectively as a group.
“Against Motherwell we weren’t at it and too many had below-par performances. It was as simple as that.”
‘Too many of us were not at it, myself included’
Aberdeen were deservedly trailing to a Blair Spittal goal against Motherwell, until Bojan Miovski levelled shortly before half-time.
Jonny Hayes looked to have put the Dons on course for a comeback victory early in the second half, however, quickfire goals by Callum Slattery and Kevin Van Veen took the points back to Fir Park.
Goodwin says too many of his players underperformed on the day, with the Dons boss also taking his own share of responsibility for the defeat.
He added: “You can afford to carry one or two and still get a result, but I just felt there were too many of us who weren’t at it, myself included.
“There were too many below-par performances, but we just need to make sure we don’t have too many days like this.
“It’s not time for pushing the panic button or anything like that. But we have to look at it, analyse it properly and make sure we eradicate the mistakes we made in the games coming ahead.”
No issues with Motherwell’s approach
Motherwell’s attempts to run down the clock in the latter stages of the game caused frustration among the home crowd.
Referee Chris Graham added six minutes of stoppage time, however, the Reds could not find a way past a resistant Well defence.
Goodwin had no qualms about the approach of the Steelmen, who secured victory in Steven Hammell’s first match in charge.
The Pittodrie manager insists his side must be more effective in breaking sides down at home.
He added: “Motherwell didn’t win the game because they were time wasting. I thought their gameplan was excellent and Steven Hammell’s approach was spot on.
“I’d have done the same. You’re winning and there’s not long left in the game. You do what you have to in order to win the game.
“I explained that to the players after the game.
“This is a reality check for us. We’ve had it all our own way in recent home games and we have to find a way to break teams down.
“We just didn’t move the ball quickly enough. Most teams are going to come here and try and hit us on the break.
“We didn’t move the ball quickly enough and we played into Motherwell’s hands a lot.
“We have to learn from it.”
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