Peterhead captain Scott Brown has laid down an unequivocal challenge to the Blue Toon to dig themselves out of trouble.
Brown concedes this season has fallen well below the players’ expectations, with Peterhead struggling in eighth having won just once since December.
Their dip in form has allowed the two sides below, Dumbarton and East Fife, to close the gap and force a nervy end to the season.
Remaining in the division is all that matters to Brown, with six games left to ensure they are not one of the two teams facing the threat of relegation.
“I don’t think we’ve been playing as well over the last couple of weeks as we were before Christmas, when we were picking up a good number of points,” said Brown.
“I don’t think we’re playing terribly but it feels at times when we lose a goal, we lack belief to get back in the game. We’ve got six cup finals and need to make sure we’re not in the two relegation places.
“You only need to look at the games we’ve played against higher opposition. We’ve shown in flashes what we can do but if I’m being brutally honest, we’ve not shown that regularly enough which is ultimately why we’re sitting in eighth.
“You can sugar-coat it and say we’ve played pretty football but the lower-leagues are all about putting points on the board. At this stage of the season it’s about making sure you’re not ninth or 10th.
“Over the next six weeks we need to give it as good a shot as we can. It’s life-and-death between staying up and going down. We need to be able to look ourselves in the face knowing we’ve given everything we can.”
At the start of the season there was optimism Peterhead could make a push for the play-offs. Even when they picked up form towards the end of 2021, it was not beyond the realms of possibility.
But their fortunes have dipped considerably since then, with the 4-3 win over Dumbarton their sole league win in three months. Last weekend’s narrow loss at Alloa made it four defeats on the spin.
“We’ve only won twice since just before Christmas so it’s not been a good run of form. It’s up to us now,” said Brown.
“We’ve got six games – not to put right the season, as we’re below where we thought we should have been in the league. We’ve let ourselves down from that point of view.
“Stay in the league at all costs? It has to be. We need to find one way or another to put points on the board to keep ourselves safe.
“It might be 1-0s or backs-to-the-wall stuff. Whatever it takes, we’re going to have to find it.”
The Blue Toon have crucial games in the next month against Dumbarton and East Fife, which should prove pivotal in deciding who finishes in the bottom two. First up though is Falkirk on the road on Saturday.
The players have had discussions among themselves, as would be expected when they find themselves in such a predicament. Frustrations are inevitable.
“Behind closed doors we have chats about it,” added Brown. “I feel a bit more responsibility being captain and being eighth in the league, I take that personally.
“This season hasn’t been good enough as a group of players and it’s my job to organise and make sure we get away from it.
“We have had words (among the players) at a point after games where you can see frustrations are high. It’s natural. I dare say teams at the top of the table have those discussions.
“There’s a lot to play for and a lot at stake. Nobody likes being on the run we have been since Christmas and it’s only us that can change it.”
Peterhead boss Jim McInally reins in criticism of players during difficult run
