Ross County forward Jake Jervis fears the Staggies will be struggling for survival this season unless they can cut out the defensive mistakes.
The Staggies’ hopes of earning their first point of the Premiership campaign were dashed by the loss of two goals due to poor defending in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Dundee United.
The loss leaves Derek Adams’ side bottom of the league and Jervis knows the poor defending has to stop.
He said: “We were all over them in the second half and it is the loss of weak goals which has cost us again. It’s something which has got to change or else we’re going to stay where we are.
“It’s the little things which make the big difference in this game.”
Poor finishing was just as crucial as defensive lapses for the Staggies at Tannadice as both Jervis and Yoann Arquin missed open goals when it was 1-1.
The County forward added: “We were the better team in the second half and it’s a sore one to lose in the manner we did.
“I missed a great chance at the back post and so has Yoann, so to then see them go up the park and score the winner just makes it worse. It’s something I was thinking about when I came off but come the day after it has to be forgotten about.
“We’re getting on top of teams more and as the games go on I’m sure we will start to get positive results.
“We knew United had suffered a heavy defeat but they had also beaten Aberdeen, who are a good team 3-0, so we knew it was going to be tough for us.”
County take a break from league duty to travel to Stranraer tomorrow in the League Cup and Jervis hopes the switch of focus to cup football can ultimately ignite the club’s league campaign.
He said: “I didn’t know much about Scottish football before I came here but this year it seems the league is going to be really wide open and we just have to keep going with belief and the first win will come.
“Whether that is on Tuesday in the cup or next Saturday at Hamilton, we’ll see, but we are improving with every game and once that one good result comes I’m sure it will give us the confidence we need to build on it.
“Taking the lead in a game is the first priority as that will let us settle down.”