Peterhead midfielder Nicky Riley admitted the Blue Toon were chasing shadows after dropping to the foot of the League 1 table following the 4-1 thrashing at champions Livingston on Saturday.
The former Dundee player expressed his frustration after previous results against the Lions this season offered hope manager Jim McInally’s men could ruin the West Lothian club’s title party.
Stenousemuir moved above the Blue Toon following victory and the best Peterhead can hope for is a play-off place.
Riley said: “We didn’t perform at all. As much as Livi played well, we know we can play a lot better than that, especially in the first half.
“It was a little too late. Especially after the first half, it was going to be a little bit too difficult.
“It was disappointing for us as we have beaten Livi before. We knew it was going to be a hard game but it was not as if we came here not thinking we couldn’t get anything from the game. When we play like that it will always make it difficult for us.
“We knew we had a good chance of beating them again. Even the games up at Peterhead, we have given them a good go. We were off it from the start and with Livi being a full-time team we could not afford to give them that much of a start.
“In the second half we did play better, but to was too little too late for us.”
Riley now has a week to think and plan before the crucial match against Alloa Athletic at Balmoor which will decide Peterhead’s season.
“Riley insisted his team mates are not lacking in self-assurance, but they need to improve if they are going to survive.
“The other results have not gone for us but it is not about the other teams, it is about us. We have got one game. We need to win our game. Until next week all we can do is concentrate on Alloa and getting three points. We know we have been in a relegation struggle for a while so it is nothing new.
“We have been approaching each game thinking we can win. We know what this league is like, every team can beat everyone else and it’s been like throughout.
“It is not as if we are going into games with no confidence, we are not playing well and we need to fix it.
“We need to be playing well in these games to win. Next week we’ll go in with confidence and knowing we need to win. That’s what we’ll have to do. Hopefully we’ll start off the game better than we did against Livi.”
