Peterhead manager Jim McInally has told his players there is no time to feel sorry for themselves after watching his team slip into the relegation mire following a 2-0 home defeat to Stenhousemuir.
The win for Stenny lifted them off the bottom of League 1 and to within a point of eighth-placed Blue Toon.
McInally said: “We’ve lost a goal to an own goal and a free kick and it seems to be the way things are going for us at the moment. The players are feeling sorry for themselves at the moment, but I’ve told them they cannot afford to do that. They need to keep working hard for each other and I know they can turn it around. To come away with a 2-0 defeat to a team who haven’t really opened us up is a sore one to take and I told the players on days like this when we’re not scoring the worst we should be coming away with is a goalless draw.
“It was a wicked day and the result was harsh on us, but that’s the way it seems to be at the minute.”
The Blue Toon are eight points off the promotion play-off places but the immediate aim is to haul themselves away from the bottom of the division.
McInally hopes to bring in new players in January but has backed his current squad to dig in and compete for the cause.
He said: “Livingston are winning the league quite easy yet they’ve lost four home games this season. We just need to participate, get some results and before you know it we can be pushing back up there.
“Right now we need to get some wins, even if it is ugly. These are the same players who did great last year, but confidence is the issue. When Rory McAllister scored the own goal I could see the whole team’s heads go down.
“We have to try to restore confidence and the only way we can do that is by digging in for each other.
“I can’t fault the attitude of the players. They played hard, but it just didn’t happen for them. But we know there is no getting away from the fact the results have not been good enough.”