Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes has urged his men to rediscover their ruthless streak to address their slow start to the Scottish Premiership campaign.
The Dons were held to a third draw of the season by Caley Thistle at Pittodrie last Saturday when Iain Vigurs’ superb strike cancelled out Niall McGinn’s opener.
The Reds have only six points to show from their opening five matches ahead of this weekend’s trip to Dens Park to face Paul Hartley’s Dundee.
But McInnes remains confident his players can turn it around and start moving up the table with a win against the Dark Blues on Sunday.
He said: “I recognise that we have to get to top form and find that killer instinct to win games.
“We need to click into top gear and sustain that for 90 minutes. We have threatened to do that and now we need to find that consistency and winning formula over the next few games.
“I have been here long enough to know you are never as bad as people may make out when a result goes against you or as good as some may suggest after a victory.
“We just have to get our heads down, work hard and manage our own game. If you don’t get wins on a regular basis, as we have done in recent seasons, then people want to know why. That is why we operate at a club that is expected to win.
“The management team and the players buy into that demand when we sign for Aberdeen.”
McInnes admits it was unrealistic for his side to match last season’s remarkable feat of starting the season with eight wins that propelled the Dons into the position of title contenders.
He added: “We have set a standard over the last few seasons. We are at the same stage we were at two seasons ago after the first five games.
“People will judge us against last season and say we are nine points worse off but last year was a record-breaking start to the season. Eight wins in a row was a club record and it was always going to be difficult to match up to that.
“I understand in the last few seasons we have been used to winning games rather than drawing games. We have had one defeat in six matches and that was against Celtic, who have been beating everyone in the league.
“But we have won only two of those six games, so we know the importance of getting maximum points rather than just picking up one point.”