Gutted Aberdeen midfielder Lewis Ferguson has vowed to fight for third spot until the very end after Stephen Glass' Scottish Cup exit fury.
The Dons crashed out of the cup before the semi-final stage as Dundee United put in a dominant display in the 3-0 rout at Pittodrie.
The capitulation left the former Atalanta reserve side coach fuming and Ferguson admits he didn't hold back with the Aberdeen players in a post-match dressing down.
The 21-year-old admits the players have to reflect on the poor display and bounce back against Livingston this weekend.
He told Reds TV : “Sunday was quite clearly nowhere near good enough from everybody.
“Everyone on the pitch for us did not perform the way we should have.
"You can sometimes get away with a couple of players having an off day, but not everyone. We were not at the races. I don’t know why. We were simply not good enough, myself included.
“We completely dropped our standards and Dundee United were by far the better team on the day. And that should not happen at Pittodrie.
"They fully deserved to go through and we deserved absolutely nothing from the game.
“We got what we deserved.
“The gaffer and the coaching staff made it quite clear that the performance was nowhere near the standards this club sets. The way we performed on Sunday was nowhere near that. They made that very clear after the game.
“Everyone knows that though.
“It is us – the players – who need to have a look at ourselves and put things right. We can only do that out on the pitch.
“Every time you suffer a sore one you have to go and put things right. We have that chance on Saturday."
“This week is about trying to focus on the next game. You don’t want to dwell too much on a bad result. It is all about working hard this week and putting things right. We have been working hard with the coaches on setting the team up the way they want us to go and play."
The Granite City side trail third-placed Hibs by six points going into the final three Premiership fixtures of the season.
Ferguson still hopes to overtake Jack Ross' men and claim third spot.
He added: “Hibs are in a really good position at the moment (for third spot).
"We would need results to go our way as well as us winning the final three games. It is out of our hands. But that is not our focus at the moment.
"Our focus is going down to Livingston and performing well and winning the game. If we do that then hopefully the next game against Hibs would still be meaningful."
