Paul Hartley is calling on his Cove Rangers players to issue a quick-fix to their recent slump in form.
Five games without a win in League One has seen Cove drop away from the top of the division, following their impressive start to the season.
They have lost four of the last five, including two home defeats against Clyde and Montrose.
Cove travel to Forfar Athletic on Boxing Day in a bid to put their recent record right, which Hartley has put down to his side making uncharacteristic mistakes.
Hartley said: “As a team, it’s not just about pinpointing defenders. Little errors and mistakes are costing us just now. We’re creating plenty of opportunities.
🆕 Clyde Reaction | The Manager & Fyvie
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— Cove Rangers FC (@CoveRangersFC) December 21, 2020
“It’s a fine line, we’ve got to cut out the errors. A lot of the games we controlled last year – but you’re up against good experienced players. You’ve got to cut out the mistakes quickly and we know that.
“You don’t want to change your style of play. You’ve got to do your jobs better. You cannot change your style; that defeats the purpose of how we work. You win, lose and draw as a team.
“Football is not always beautiful. You can’t win every game. You go through a difficult spell, we’ve all been there. You’ve got to fix it quick.
“This is a tight league. Look at Airdrie winning last weekend, Peterhead beating Partick Thistle. You can easily be sucked back in or a couple of wins gets you right back up.”
Cove prepare for their third meeting with Forfar this season, having beaten them once in the league and in the Betfred Cup group stages.
It is their final game of 2020, before a derby fixture against Peterhead at the Balmoral Stadium on January 2.
The Clyde defeat last weekend meant they have now played each team in League One once, heading into the second round of fixtures.
Hartley added: “The first game we were really good. The cup game was tough – we’d made a lot of changes. They’re at the bottom end of the table but everything is so tight.
“I expect another tough game. The first one is Forfar, that gets you the momentum.
“We know what we’re up against, we’ve faced everybody. It’s nothing to panic about for us, but you want to get back to what you’re good at, which is winning.”
Scott Ross is available again after missing the defeat to Clyde last weekend.