Interim Queen of the South boss Grant Murray wants his squad to have a clean slate for the second half of the season.
The Doonhamers currently sit in seventh place with Wullie Gibson departing the dugout last week after a disappointing opening to the campaign.
The South then suffered a 5-2 beating by Falkirk on Friday night as they prepare to host Clyde tomorrow.
Temporary gaffer Murray said: “They need to forget about the first half of the season, understand the first half hasn’t been good enough for a full-time club of this stature in League One. It’s not good enough and we need to accept that.”
He added: “Only they can change it. Having those moments in games, concentration levels, work rate, flip games around to wins and consistency and that’s a big thing at any level of football.
“Regardless of what league you’re in, the more consistent you are the better you’re going to do.”
Murray said the loss of manager Gibson impacted on preparation for the game on Friday night but said whoever the new manager is they will have to improve for them.
He said: “They’ll be disappointed because we wanted to go into Christmas with a win away from home against Falkirk and shorten the gap to them and go on the winning run.
“But it needs to start again, and the players need to understand it. Regardless of who is going to be in charge, players are players, and they need to understand that they have to improve.
“Dunfermline is the key game for me, that is the level that we need to hit week in, week out and we’ve not done that and that is why we are a football club that hasn’t got a manager in place.”
Queens welcome Clyde back to Palmerston for the first time since the opening day of the season where Clyde ran out as 4-1 winners. It is one of just two wins for the Bully Wee all season.
Grant said: “When you get to this stage of the season every game is crucial. You have to outwork
the opposition and outplay them.
“We want to give the fans something to forget about the first half of the season but end it on a positive, give them three points and get to the turn of the year.”
Meanwhile the club has received a “good response” to the vacant manager’s job with Murray to stay in temporary charge again this weekend.
“As a board we will take time to consider our options.”
