Cove Rangers midfielder Connor Scully has urged his team-mates to stick together through the club’s sticky patch.
Cove are without a win in five games and have dropped off the pace in League One, after winning their first four games.
Experiencing dips in form is not something Cove have been used to over the years, with their recent history dominated by tales of success.
They have lost four of their last five games, with a draw at Airdrieonians thrown in the middle of that. Uncharacteristic mistakes are costing them dear at the moment, which need to be put right starting in today’s trip to Forfar Athletic.
“I think the main thing is for everyone to stick together,” said Scully. “It can be easy for players to break off and lose confidence.
“I’ve never really experienced this as a player. We’ll just stick together and try cut out the sloppy goals.
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“The gaffer is trying all he can in training and the boys are all behind him. You make one small mistake and it could cost you. That’s what’s cost us the last few weeks.
“You could maybe get away with it in League Two or the Highland League. But you’re playing with experienced guys who have played in this league or the league above for years.”
Cove have been used to playing on the front foot through years of challenging for honours in the Highland League.
That pattern seemed to continue unabated last year as they stormed to the League Two title, in what was their first season in the SPFL.
However, the 3-2 defeat to Clyde last weekend was their second home defeat in succession, after not losing a home league game at the Balmoral Stadium since its opening prior to that.
“We didn’t want to change the way we played,” added Scully. “We’ve always been a footballing team as long as I can remember. As a unit though, we just have to do better in these situations.
“The goals we’ve conceded are not just individual errors, they’re team errors. We’ve got to get our heads together, not drop too much confidence and hopefully the results will start coming in.”
The team led by manager Paul Hartley is one that was largely built by his predecessor John Sheran, with a large number of players growing up together in the Aberdeen youth team and later playing together at Peterhead.
That has helped forge a bond between the players which should not be shaken by this recent rough spell.
Scully added: “We’re all quite close. It’s tough to come away on a Saturday, particularly myself being Cove through and through, with a million things running through my head.
“But as soon as you get back into training on the Tuesday, you can’t sit and dwell on things. You’ve got to forget about it.
“We’re going through a small blip and we’ve just got to stay together as a team. If you don’t, that’s when bad things start to happen.
“We’re close in and out of football and spirits are still high.”