Conor Gethins says Nairn County need to get back to basics following two disappointing defeats.
The Station Park side started the Breedon Highland League season with a win against Keith.
But they have followed it up with losses to Lossiemouth in the North of Scotland Cup and Deveronvale in the league.
Injuries aren’t helping County with Scott Davidson, Callum Howarth, John Treasurer, Tom MacLennan and Fraser Dingwall all sidelined.
However, experienced striker Gethins says that’s no excuse for Nairn.
The 37-year-old said: “It comes down the basics and both Lossiemouth and Deveronvale did the basics better than us.
“They worked harder than us, they wanted it more and they were quicker to second balls.
“It doesn’t help that we’ve lost a lot of experience as a result of injuries.
“Tom, Scott, Callum, John and now Fraser are all out and it means boys are filling in certain positions they’re not quite as comfortable in.
“That’s tough, but at the same time there’s no excuse for not working hard.
“There was a lack of hunger and a lack of desire to work hard (against Deveronvale).
“It wasn’t good enough all over the park, we didn’t have any guile or cuteness, it was like we’d never played together before, which was strange when we did really well against Keith.
“We know ourselves it wasn’t good enough and it’s only ourselves that can get us out of it.”
Tough run approaching
Nairn face a tricky run of fixtures in the next few weeks.
They visit Rothes on Saturday and then tackle Fraserburgh and Formartine United.
He added: “When you see the players Rothes, Fraserburgh and Formartine have it will be a tough ask for us.
“But that’s when you need to organise things and stay in games.”
