Robbie Neilson provided an honest assessment of his side’s defeat to Blackburn Rovers.
Neilson’s men battled back and drew level through Ed Upson after an early opener but they were ultimtaley beaten 4-1 at Ewood Park.
“I thought we were poor today,” he said. “We came here with a game plan, but after 90 seconds we were a goal down and we were battling against it after that.
“Initially, we needed to deal with it better - if you need to clear it away, clear it away. It's the start of the game.
“For a lot of the game today, we were caught in two minds. We didn't give ourselves enough of a chance, our decision making was poor and I think our work rate was poor too, which for me was unacceptable. The belief simply wasn't there.”
He added: “It was the basics that went wrong today. We can talk about not gelling all we want, but if you can't pick the right pass, or make the right touch, it doesn't matter who you're playing with - your best mate or someone you've never met before. The standard wasn't good enough today - we've spoken about it at length and we all agreed.”
The Dons enjoyed their best spell in the second half but they were unable to capitalise and equalise for a second time.
He continued: “For a period in the second half we were where we should be, getting after the game and being more aggressive, but all in all it wasn't good enough.
“We came up here and were positive about what we wanted to do and were confident we could get something from the game.
“In the first 10 minutes we were poor, but we managed to get a foothold back in the game. Then in the second half, we looked better but it was a poor set-piece goal to concede and after that we were chasing our tails. All in all, it wasn't good enough. We need to be better.”
The 37-year-old concluded: “There are good players in that dressing room but we have to add to it and get our lads back from injury. I still believe we have a very good team here, we just need to get ourselves together.
“We were missing Agard, Walsh, Sow and Aneke - four guys who would be in the team and I think we need two more who could go in it too. We want to add depth so if people don't perform, they don't play.”
