Jonny Hayes knows Aberdeen must use the international break to sort out their sorry season.
The Dons came into the campaign full of hope and promise but that has quickly evaporated as Stephen Glass ’s team have failed to register a win in their last nine games.
That worrying collapse has seen Aberdeen slide down the league to ninth.
Hayes doesn’t think they’re too far away but knows they need to use the break to work on eradicating defensive mistakes that are costing them dearly.
He said: “We are waiting on things to turn. It’s fine lines and little mistakes that are costing us.
“It has not been the case in the last few games where we have been battered or outplayed. It has been silly mistakes and switching off at the wrong time has cost us goals and points.
“I don’t think we are playing badly, bar the 30 minutes we played with 10 men against St Mirren.
“It is a case of keep doing what we are doing. We need to keep improving on the training field and hopefully the tide will turn.”
The Dons got back on level terms against Celtic on Sunday and looked favourites to take all three points before Jota broke their hearts late on. Hayes admitted it was a kick in the teeth. The Irishman said: “We’re disappointed.
“When we got the goal in the second half we got a bit of impetus and we sensed a bit of vulnerability and we felt like we were going to win. I wouldn’t call it a sucker punch but we showed a bit of naivety when we switched off.”
Glass rebuilt his squad this summer and by the manager’s own admission it is taking longer than he’d hoped for some of his players to find their feet.
Hayes believes they’re making progress but need to step up and be more of a team. They’ll be aiming to put that right when they head to Dundee after the break, with games against Hibs, Rangers and Hearts to follow. He added: “It’s still a learning curve with so many new players playing together.”
A positive for Aberdeen was the pace and strong running of striker Austin Samuels, with the on-loan Wolves star a real threat to the Celtic defence.
Glass said: “He is quick, positive but has not been able to train as much as we’d have liked since he came in. If he can produce that for 90 minutes we become more potent.
“We’ve managed to arrange a game for later in the week so boys like Austin will get extra time in his legs.”
