Hamilton Accies boss John Rankin says his side must stop giving themselves a mountain to climb after early mistakes in each half saw them fall to defeat at Raith Rovers and back to the bottom of the Championship table.
A Dylan Easton strike after five minutes and an Aidan Connolly penalty five minutes into the second half came either side of a John Pierre-Tiehi equaliser for Accies, before Liam Diack's 80th minute strike sealed the points for Rovers.
Rankin was left raging with his side as they failed to show the fighting spirit that saw them come back from 4-1 down to draw with Cove Rangers in their last outing.
But he says they must stop giving themselves so much to do if they are going to claw their way out of the relegation mire.
He said: "Conceding five minutes into either half is not ideal and it puts you on the backfoot straight away.
"That gives you a mountain to climb so that needs to be eradicated from our game entirely.
"Early mistakes are giving us an uphill task.
"Once we got ourselves together after the first goal we played some really good stuff and created some good chances.
"We have a chance [for Tiehi] just before the half-time whistle, right in the middle of the six-yard box, and we have to take that.
"It would have changed the game entirely.
"But we've given away a penalty at the start of the second half. It looked like a soft penalty at the time but it's a cheap corner we've given away in the first place.
"There was no reaction to that [penalty] and that is the hugely disappointing thing because the reaction to going 1-0 down was there.
"The last goal is just naivety.
"You are going to get that with young players so you have to allow for them making mistakes, but you've got to eradicate them in the vital areas of the pitch.
"Ultimately, we need to find a way of getting ourselves in front in games.
"When we get ourselves in front in games - as we saw at Inverness - it becomes harder for the opposition to break you down and you get chances at the other end."
Accies now face Rangers B in the SPFL Trust Trophy third round tomorrow night before hosting league leaders Ayr United on Friday night and Rankin knows they can't afford to keep passing up chances if they are going to enjoy any success this week.
He added: "We've not been defending our own box well enough and we've not been good enough in the other box. That has to change.
"When you don't take your chances, especially away from home, it becomes harder to take anything from games."
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