Captain Scott Brown insists the Aberdeen management team are putting in ‘ridiculous hours’ in a bid to turn around the crash in form.
Aberdeen slumped to a damaging 2-1 defeat at then bottom side Dundee to extend a winless run to 10 games in all competitions.
The struggling Dons have lost five successive Premiership matches for the first time since 2011 and have taken just two points from the last possible 21.
Pittodrie boss Stephen Glass admitted the Dons were ‘in a hole’ in the aftermath of the defeat at Dens Park.
Having signed on at Aberdeen in a player-coach role, Brown has seen up close the hours put in by Glass and his back-room team.
Brown insists Glass, assistant Allan Russell and assistant coach Henry Apaloo are ‘looking at absolutely everything’ to drag the Dons out of their hole and deliver wins.
The midfielder, who insists the players and management must keep going and retain self belief, is also doing his utmost to turn around the Reds’ ailing form.
Brown, 36, said: “The hours this coaching staff put in are ridiculous.
“They put in the time looking at absolutely everything.
“It’s not always going to go your way in football, but it’s about keeping going, keep believing in yourself.
“That goes for us in the dressing-room and the management as well.”
Captain Brown thrives under pressure
Brown agreed a pre-contract to join Aberdeen towards the end of last summer and officially signed on a two-year contract in a player-coach role this summer.
Aberdeen have slumped to the club’s worst run of form in more than a decade and have dropped to ninth in the Premiership table.
Following the loss at Dens Park, the 2,500-strong Red Army made their frustrations clear at the unacceptable run of form.
As club captain, Brown accepts there is pressure on him to negotiate the team through this difficult spell and lead them to back to form.
It is a responsibility and pressure he will step up to both on and off the field.
Brown said: “Pressure is what I thrive on during my career.
“There is always more pressure on me.
“I have dealt with that pressure for years, being a captain.
“I have enjoyed every single moment.
“I understand there are going to be ups and downs and it is my job to keep everyone going.
“Most of that pressure comes from ourselves.
“It is all about us getting results now and getting ourselves up that league table.
“We are in a position that we don’t want to be in.
“The manager can only pick the team, it is up to the players to make sure we do our talking on the pitch.”
Privileged position of an Aberdeen player
Aberdeen begin a run of fixtures against teams in the Premiership top six when hosting Hibs on Saturday.
They then travel to league leaders and defending champions Rangers the following Wednesday, before facing undefeated Hearts, then Motherwell and Dundee United.
There is expectation on Aberdeen players to deliver trophy success and push at the top end of the table.
Brown reckons being at a club with the level of demand is a privileged position that a player must not only accept, but thrive in.
He said: “We are in a privileged position, we play football in front of ten, twelve, fourteen thousand fans.
“If you can’t love that, then there’s no point being a professional footballer.”
Brown admits ‘it’s hard to switch off’
The former Celtic and Scotland international admits it can be difficult to switch off, particularly if Aberdeen are losing and answers need to be found.
That has only intensified now that he is in the dual role of player-coach at Pittodrie.
He said: “It’s hard to switch off, but I enjoy doing what I do.
“The lads work a lot harder on the coaching side than I do, going more in depth and analysing what they have to do.
“They can see things at the time, while I need to concentrate on playing and training hard.
“They watch from the outside, while we all watch training back.
“I wouldn’t have came here if I didn’t think I could do both jobs and jump in between.
“It’s different for me being in between, because, as a player you’d probably sit back, be disappointed and think about your own performance.
“Your wee brain would maybe start to work overtime.
“But now, you’re watching all the videos back understanding it and you see where the mistakes are.
“There will always be mistakes, it’s football and it’s never going to be perfect every week.
“It’s about putting in as many hours as I can to make sure we get the best out of the lads.”