The magnitude of the task facing recently appointed Peterhead manager David Robertson was laid bare at Meadowbank Stadium as his side was torn apart by a rampant FC Edinburgh outfit.
The result has extended the Blue Toon’s winless streak in all competitions this season to 11 games and they remain three points adrift at the foot of League One having failed to record a victory since early November.
Robertson is well aware of what’s required and, in the aftermath of the defeat in the capital, he indicated that changes in personnel were high on his agenda in his quest to turn things round.
He said: “We always knew it was going to be difficult.
“The biggest problem is that we don’t have a recognised striker and that’s something that will change during the January transfer window.
“I’m hoping to bring in four or five players in January. Hopefully that will freshen things up and help us to regroup a little bit.
“Today we lost an early goal then struggled for about 20 minutes but we were OK towards the end of the first half and began to frustrate Edinburgh a lot.
“We weren’t too bad in the second half but we lost the second goal and never really recovered.
“We haven’t been creating chances so it has been very difficult since I came in.
“The team picks itself a lot of the time as some of the guys know they’re going to be playing anyway so we need competition for places. That will be rectified in the window.”
Your #BlueToon starting line up for today’s @cinchuk League 1 match with @FC_Edinburgh pic.twitter.com/sODigMY4fb
— Peterhead FC (@pfcofficial) December 24, 2022
The visitors were put on the back foot early on when Edinburgh striker John Robertson volleyed a Kyle Jacobs cross beyond on-loan Aberdeen goalkeeper Tom Ritchie after just five minutes.
But for some exceptional goalkeeping from Ritchie who saved superbly from Innes Murray, Danny Handling and James Craigen, the game could have been over before half time.
Edinburgh moved up a gear after the break, Ryan Shanley driving past Ritchie to make it 2-0 after 57 minutes before late strikes from Callum Crane and Emmanuel Johnson clinched victory for the promotion chasing home side.
Peterhead finished the game with only ten men after Russell Mclean was shown a straight red card by referee Chris Graham following a reckless lunge on Crane.
Robertson added: “We put (former Dumbarton player) Boris Melingiu on as a trialist up front.
“He’s been training with us for a couple of weeks and while he did well, he hasn’t played competitively since last season.
“I had to put a right back, Michael Hewitt, in beside him which wasn’t ideal.
“Where we are just now, what we need is fighters and warriors, guys who are prepared to run through a brick wall, both for the sake of the club and themselves.
“It’s not the time for playing nice silky football, it’s a case of digging in and doing your bit.”
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