Jack Brown insists the Peterhead players are not looking for excuses for their poor run of form early in the season.
Peterhead are struggling near the foot of League One and after getting their first win of the season against Kelty Hearts, they were brought crashing to earth by a 4-0 thumping from Elgin City last weekend.
The Blue Toon have had a multitude of new players to bed in and have suffered injuries to key players, such as Andy McCarthy and Hamish Ritchie, but results have been hard to come by.
Brown, who joined Peterhead last season from Highland League side Rothes, said the players cannot have any excuses for the way things have gone and they need to help the club turn a corner.
“It’s been disappointing – you can tell that from our results,” said Brown. “None of us go out to do poorly but it’s just not been good enough so far.
“We lost so many quality players in the summer, it was going to be difficult to replace them. The management team are doing as best they can with that and we’re not looking for any excuses as players.
“We know it’s not been good enough and we know we need to get better. Hopefully, that will show in results sooner rather than later.
“It’s a tough one to put your finger on (what’s gone wrong). There’s a few things – defensively, our shape, going forward we don’t create enough to be honest. Collectively as a group, we know we can all do more.
“When we were struggling for players at the start of the season, during the League Cup games, boys’ confidence took a hit. But we know what needs to be done and we’re not looking for excuses.”
Peterhead have traditionally attracted players from across the country and out of necessity have trained in separate groups, with players originating from Aberdeen, Dundee and the Central Belt.
However this week the players trained together twice in Dundee as McInally looks to speed up the process of gelling his squad of new faces together.
“We’ve got however many new players and I don’t think everyone has bedded in together yet,” said Brown. “This will definitely help.
“This is what most part-time teams in Scotland do and it can only be a good thing for us.”
The Blue Toon head to Dunfermline this weekend and the former Caley Thistle youngster reckons it is a game the players should be relishing.
“We all know every week is going to be a difficult game but these are the ones you should be looking forward to as a player,” said Brown. “Big stadium, big club, full-time team – you should be wanting to test yourself.
“Our confidence won’t be the highest just now but as players, you should be looking forward to these sorts of games.”