Unimpressed Scott Brown has roasted the Aberdeen dressing room for believing they were in for a stroll against St Mirren.
The Dons blew a chance to turn up the heat on the Premiership top four as their positive return from the break hit the buffers in Paisley.
Stephen Glass’ side tumbled to defeat to the Buddies and Brown suggested the miserable display might have been down to complacency setting in at Pittodrie.
Aberdeen went in on the back of a decent run with just one defeat in seven – including the 1-1 draw with champions Rangers.
It was a couple of steps forward and another one back and Brown admitted the Saints stumble wasn’t acceptable as the player coach sent a rocket in through the squad and told the group to get tough.
He said: “We thought we could just turn up and if we won the game we would be sitting in a nice position in the league.
“It doesn’t work like that, you have got to earn the right to play, earn the right to go and win games. St Mirren defended really well, they had one shot on target and scored a fantastic goal.
“For us, it wasn’t good enough, one shot on target, whether it’s at home or away from home.
“We have been behind a lot this season and always hit back and created chances and scored goals.
“Tuesday wasn’t one of those days.
“We came here last time, we were fantastic in the first half, and we thought it was going to be a nice easy game.
“The pitch started to cut up and I think it just didn’t suit us because it wasn’t inch perfect.
“Sometimes we are going to have to deal with that in January and February, and even March and all the way through, when pitches aren’t going to be great.
“It’s not just that mental toughness but that toughness on the field, when to take the ball when it’s bobbling up and be brave and put your body on the line.”
Brown refused to make excuses for the painful loss and admitted Aberdeen need to get sharper in front of goal.
The Pittodrie men failed to land a glove on Jim Goodwin’s improving side and there was a lack of spark where it matters.
Brown admitted the finger can’t just be pointed at the front men – as Aberdeen need others to weigh in with goals when they are bossing the ball.
The former Celtic star said: “It’s never a nice dressing room after you get beat. I think the performance throughout the whole team wasn’t good enough.
“We didn’t create enough chances, we didn’t defend well as a team. To be fair, they have scored a fantastic goal, yet again, but we need to play a lot better and dominate the game. It’s not just the ones in the final third, it’s throughout the whole team.
“What was missing? Just that little bit of urgency higher up the park. They gave us a lot of time on the ball and let us have the ball at the back, but sometimes you need to mix and match a bit, sometimes you need to get it into the strikers, and it’s that fighting spirit as well up the park.
“We didn’t have that.”
