Jack Brown wants Rothes to return to their best after uncharacteristic back-to-back defeats.
Rothes have shipped eight goals in their last two games against Buckie Thistle and Fraserburgh, with the latter coming in the Scottish Cup first round on Boxing Day.
Former Caley Thistle midfielder Brown believes the Speysiders have been outworked in those games, which is not what is expected at Rothes.
He said: “Fraserburgh worked harder than us and that’s really disappointing. Last season and in the cup semi-final and final, every knew that Rothes were hard to beat and we hate to be outworked.
“The last two games, that’s what’s been the main thing. We’ve not been outplayed, just outworked and outfought.
“It’s really soft goals for us to concede. There’s a lot of corners and set-pieces which we know we can do better with.
“These are teams we need to do well against if we want to be up there in the league.. We know we’ve got the squad to do it but the last two game we have not shown it.”
Ross Jack’s side will have to wait before getting back into action, with their game against Brora Rangers on Saturday postponed due to the latter’s rearranged cup tie with Camelon.
Their next scheduled league game is against Formartine United on January 16, however they do have an outstanding league fixture against Strathspey Thistle which could be fitted in.
Rothes 1-3 Broch FT
Cormack with our goal
All the best to @FraserburghFC for the rest of the @ScottishCup pic.twitter.com/RzQpB8nGok— Rothes FC (@RothesFC) December 26, 2020
Brown has been joined at Mackessack Park by a number of familiar faces in recent months, with his ex-Inverness team-mates Ross Gunn (permanent), Shane Harkness and Lewis Hyde (both loan) all joining.
He sees the club benefitting from Jack’s strong connections at the Championship outfit.
Brown added: “The manager knows myself, Ross, Shane and Lewis from Inverness and has managed to get us training at Fort George a few times, when boys have been off work.
“I’ve known those boys for a long time and they’ve settled in really well.”