Defender David Bates warns Aberdeen must quickly find a way to grind out wins and clean sheets.
The Dons have secured just five shut-outs in 30 games in all competitions this season.
Scotland international centre-back Bates accepts the poor clean sheet count is damaging the Reds’ Premiership campaign.
Aberdeen’s away form is also a concern, with the team having won just twice in 12 Premiership games on the road.
Bates aims to rectify both problems at Livingston today by securing a shut-out and three points.
He said: “We need to start grinding out wins when it is sticky.
“At the moment we can’t really get our performances going and it is really frustrating.
“We try to prepare right, but it isn’t coming together.
“Clean sheets is something that I really pride myself on.
“It has been frustrating this season that we have not had many.
“We need to start taking care of that on the pitch and everything else will take care of itself.
“If we had done that at Ross County (1-1 draw), we would have won that game – and other games as well.
“We need to start picking up clean sheets and wins, ideally at Livingston.”
Slip-ups not punished by rivals
Aberdeen have taken just two points from a possible nine in the Premiership since the resumption of action after the winter break.
The Reds did, however, defeat Edinburgh City 3-0 in the Scottish Cup.
Fortunately for the Dons, their rivals failed to capitalise on the dropped points and the Pittodrie outfit have not lost much ground in the Premiership.
Occupying sixth position in the table, Aberdeen are four points adrift of fourth-placed Motherwell and two points behind Hibs in fifth place.
Aberdeen trail third-placed Hearts by 14 points.
However, the Dons hold a game in hand over all three teams.
Bates admits there is a sense of ‘what if’ regarding dropped points.
He said: “We are really disappointed where we are.
“As a club, we should be better positioned in the table.
“That is up to us as players to get the points on the board.
“We haven’t taken them all recently and hopefully we can get some consistency going and climb the table.
“We came in after St Mirren (1-0 loss) and Ross County (1-1) and were frustrated.
“However, others haven’t taken full points from their games either.
“You look at it as ‘what if’?
“If we start to pick up three points like we should then we should climb the table.”
Lack of game time when signing
Signed in the final week of the summer transfer window, Bates has become a regular first-team starter.
In recent months, he has forged a centre-back partnership with Ross McCrorie.
Capped six times by Scotland, the 25-year-old was signed from German Bundesliga 2 side SV Hamburg on a three-year deal.
When arriving from the former European Cup winners, Bates had not played any football for almost five months.
His last game before the Pittodrie switch was with loan team Cercle Bruges on April 10 in a 3-0 Belgian top-flight defeat of O-H Leuven.
Bates also arrived at Pittodrie having had no pre-season training.
With the lack of game time and training, the defender admits he initially found it difficult to find his form on his return to Scotland. Especially with the frantic nature of Premiership action.
Confident top form is returning
However, the defender is confident he is now closing in on the form that saw him represent his country.
He said: “Straight away it was tough at first trying to get used to it again.
“That craziness, high intensity that Scottish football is.
“The ball can be everywhere at times, but I have enjoyed it.
“I was getting back to a bit of form myself before the Christmas period.
“Hopefully as a team we can get a good bit of form going and start moving up the table to make it a wee bit better.”
