Peterhead sit three points adrift at the bottom of League One following a 2-0 home defeat against Montrose.
The Blue Toon have picked up only one point from their opening six matches and manager Jim McInally was downbeat after Saturday’s reverse.
He said: “We were better than last week but that wasn’t hard although I thought we started poorly and for the first 20 minutes we looked like a team that had been on the end of a heavy defeat the week before.
“We actually came into the game and there wasn’t a lot in it. They scored the opener at a time when I thought we looked okay.
“Then they went down to ten just before half-time but Montrose are a streetwise team and even with a man short, they still know how to play the game.
“I felt in the second half we didn’t play with enough tempo. It was all too slow and then we get a goal disallowed and then we give away a soft penalty.
“It was a penalty, I’ve no doubt about that but to shoot yourself in the foot like that was hard to take.
“We never really recovered from that. We huffed and puffed and never really looked like scoring.
“We were more competitive which is a start and we need to be like that in every game.”
Midfielder Ramez Hefzalla, who replaced Prince Asare after 33 minutes for his debut, was satisfied with the way he played.
He said: “I thought I should have got a goal when I first came on and I thought I did okay but it’s more important that the team wins, regardless of how any individual performs.”
The Egypt Under 20 international, who joined the Blue Toon from Millwall, is already aware of the substantial differences in his surroundings. “Obviously London is really hectic and I’ve come up north and there’s not many distractions which is good for me.
“I think moving here will help my career.”
Montrose threatened first and Craig Brown should have done better when, with a clear sight of goal, he pulled his shot narrowly wide of the right hand post.
Peterhead’s Conor O’Keefe was next to try his luck and forced a great save from Ross Sinclair low down to his left.
Montrose took the lead after 38 minutes when Matthew Wright bulleted a close-range header into the bottom right hand corner after a great cross by Brown.
Minutes later Rory McAllister was sent off for a quick-fire double booking as the half drew to a close.
With the man advantage Peterhead started the brighter in the second half and Jack Brown headed wide from 10 yards and O’Keefe drilled a low effort just wide as Peterhead pushed for an equaliser.
Montrose’s Kerr Waddell forced a good save from Dons loanee Tom Ritchie before Jason Brown thought he had Peterhead level only for his effort to be ruled out for offside.
Lewis Milne secured the points for Montrose from the penalty spot after Paul Dixon pulled down substitute Blair Lyons in the box.
Uganda international joins Blue Toon
Peterhead, meanwhile, have completed the signing of four-times capped Uganda international Enock Walusimbi.
The defender is captain of the Uganda under-23 national team.
Peterhead are delighted to announce the signing of Enock Walusimbi. https://t.co/AO2B7vk74R#BlueToon 🔵⚪️💙 pic.twitter.com/xPCDPa8AEM
— Peterhead FC (@pfcofficial) September 3, 2022
McInally said: “We made a move for Enock about four weeks ago and there have been a few hurdles to overcome but the contract has been signed now which is a huge step forward and a bit of a coup for the club.
“We are now just awaiting clearance from the Scottish Football Association and his work visa.
“We said we would leave no stone unturned in terms of getting players to the club and Enock’s signing is another example of that.”