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Paul Hartley is calling for a positive response from his players as we prepare to take on Ayr United for the second time in just four days.

Lee Bullen’s side romped to victory in the league encounter last Friday night, but with a place in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup up for grabs, the manager is hoping for a much-improved performance:

“It was extremely disappointing, the manner of the goals we lost and the overall performance, so it has to be an awful lot better for this one. We’re going to need more grit and determination, and our attitude is going to have to be spot on as I felt on Friday, as soon as we started conceding the goals, the heads went down.

“We can’t allow that to happen again. I genuinely didn’t think there was a lot between the teams in the first half, but we got punished for every mistake we made and the game ran away from us.”

With the tie having been postponed earlier in the month, both sides know what lies in wait for them, and Paul hopes that will act as an incentive for the team:

“It’s a real opportunity! If we win, we’ve got another home game in the next round against Elgin City, so that has to be seen as a chance to potentially get a Cup run going. Ayr will be thinking exactly the same though, and we’re going to have to match them.”

Much of the focus in the build-up has inevitably been on the visitors’ commanding win last week, but the manager says the time for dwelling on that has gone, now it is all about having a positive mindset:

“That has to be the case, I want the boys to go out there and show what they’re about. They’re professionals, I know they’ve been hurting, and they will want to put things right.”

Tony Weston and Jason Naismith will miss the match as they are cup-tied, while both Fraser Fyvie and Blair Yule have been ruled out because of ankle injuries:

“We do have a few selection problems, and the squad has been depleted with players leaving, and because of injury and the two boys being ineligible, but we just need to make sure we pick the right team, and have a really positive approach.

“It’s a one-off, both teams know the reward for a win, and we have to go for it. I’m expecting personal pride to play a part in this game. Throughout the season, you’re always going to lose matches, but it’s the manner in which you lose them that’s important. The scale of the defeats we’ve suffered just isn’t acceptable, we all have to take responsibility, and we have to start turning this round.

“The Ayr game is about getting through in the Cup, but after that we’ll have fourteen massive league games and we’re going to have to be up for the fight if we’re to meet the objective for the season, which was always staying in the Championship.

“This has been a totally different season for the lads who have been here a while, but they’ve always shown a strong mentality in the past, and that’s what we’re going to need again.

“We’ve not had a settled team so far, there have been a lot of changes and more will follow over the next week or so as we look to give ourselves a fighting chance.

“We’ll continue to work on that, but right now the focus is firmly on Ayr United, and we’ll be giving everything, whatever it takes, to book that match against Elgin in the next round.”

The tie has to be settled on the night, with extra-time and penalties to be implemented if necessary.

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