Hamilton boss Brian Rice has told his players to take responsibility for their performances.
The head coach says he won’t continue to apologise to supporters for defeats, and says Accies must learn from their mistakes.
The comments came in the wake of the 3-0 defeat at Ross County on the opening day of the new Premiership season.
Rice was furious with his side’s display in the Highlands, and told them it must improve.
“It’s got to get better,” he said. “I’m not going to keep apologising for the players. Yeah, it’s my tactics, it’s me that picks the team, but if they make the fundamental, individual mistakes and we get punished for it, then they’ve got to carry the can for that.
“We all take the plaudits when we win, so when we get beat we’ve got to take it on the chin, and it’s how you respond.
“I’m really disappointed for the fans, it’s a long way to come, I understand that. They’ll be raging, they will be angry, but they won’t be any more raging or angry than I am.
“We can’t put it behind us, because if we just forget about this then we haven’t learned anything. We have to look at this, analyse it, and I’ve got to sit through it all and pick out things, basic things we have worked on.
“We can’t just walk away from this, we have to look at it, analyse it and see why the hell this happened.
“We took kick-off on Saturday and I don’t know what happened. I asked the players and they don’t have an answer, so that tells me something about one or two of the players.
“We’re three goals worse off than Ross County right away, and three points worse off, and we need to get better, all over. I’m disappointed."
Rice wanted his side to get off to a good start, and says the focus now moves onto the visit of Kilmarnock on Saturday.
The Ayrshire men are in Lanarkshire in the first of a home and away double-header that will see Accies travel to Rugby Park in the Betfred Cup last 16 the following Saturday.
Rice is looking for an improvement in performance and hopes to deliver that in front of supporters at New Douglas Park.
“It doesn’t matter who we’re playing against, it’s a chance to redress it,” said Rice. “It just so happens that we’re at home to Kilmarnock, we know how difficult that will be.
“If we perform like we did on Saturday, every single game will be a mountain for us to climb.”
