Ross County manager Malky Mackay says the Staggies must cut out the loss of slack goals following their 3-2 loss to St Mirren.
The result leaves County without a win from their opening nine league matches, with the Dingwall men now bottom of the table.
Mackay felt County contributed to their own downfall with the loss of three cheap first half goals, with the Staggies boss demanding his side sharpens up defensively.
Mackay said: “In the first half we came off 3-1 down and I was really disappointed with the scoreline.
“We can’t give away poor goals like that. For the first one, Jack Baldwin slipped and allowed Brophy in and it’s a good finish.
“At the second one, Harry Clarke didn’t pick up his man, and Marcus Fraser scored an easy header at the far post.
“The third one, on any other day, a player 250 games deep just heads the ball and Jack left it. It’s not as if there was a shout or anything like that.
“To lose a goal like that is disappointing, especially when we got back into the game.
“We hit the bar, the goalkeeper made a great save and we then scored the free-kick.
“To go in at 2-1 down would have been different.”
Mackay took encouragement from County’s vastly-improved second half display, in which they ultimately fell short of securing a leveller following sustained spells of pressure.
He added: “At half-time, I questioned their energy levels, because it didn’t look like our normal energy levels in the game.
“At that point, you’d be looking at how we trained and if everything is OK.
“To be fair, in the second half we and pressed them back to their own goal. We hit both posts and ended up with 56% possession, 20 crosses and 20 shots on St Mirren’s goal.
“To come away with a defeat is disappointing, but it’s for a reason. We gave away a couple of horror goals.
“I was delighted with the way they put themselves forward in the second half and went on the front foot. I’m delighted with both wide areas where we caused real threats.
“I’m disappointed not to the result, but to see we were in the game until the last minute and pressing to try and get the equaliser keeps that confidence we will be OK.”