Mark Reynolds reckons Cove Rangers need to get up to speed with the Championship quickly after their 2-1 defeat to Ayr United.
Cove were outclassed on home soil by the Honest Men, with the 2-1 scoreline flattering the hosts as Ayr missed numerous gilt-edged chances.
The Aberdeen side have now lost three on the bounce and there are very few positives, if any, to take from such a poor performance.
“We knew coming to this level was going to be tough but we need to be better, individually and collectively,” said Reynolds. “It’s not what we practice in training and it’s not how the manager sets us up to play.
“We need to get up to this level and get back to the performance we put in on the opening day against Raith Rovers. We’re used to playing in lower leagues where you can get away with making mistakes and you won’t get punished sometimes. Now people punish you and take advantage if they see a weakness.
“We’re still only four games in and everybody is beating everybody. The game on Friday night – we went to Inverness and had a tough day then they went down to Partick Thistle and got beat there. That’s going to be the story of this league – it’s probably the most competitive league in Scotland.
“It’s competitive, it’s tight, everybody beats everybody. It’s going to be hard but we knew that coming into it. We’ve got good enough players in there, when we’re at it, to compete and get victories.”
Reynolds was punished for a handball for Ayr’s opener, with Ben Dempsey converting the resulting penalty.
The Cove defender struggled to understand how he was penalised when he felt the incident was not deliberate.
“They had a handball in the first-half and the referee said if it hits him and it’s deliberate, it’s a free-kick, but he didn’t mean that,” added Reynolds. “So I don’t know how he thought I’ve meant that when the boy’s shanked it back.
“I’ve lunged to block and he’s a yard away from me. That’s the kind of decision referees in Scotland are making regularly and we just need to live with it. You just hope that balances out over the season.”