Liam Gordon admits nobody in the St Johnstone team is getting pass marks at present.
The skipper was speaking after a disappointing 2-0 defeat at Motherwell - the Perth club’s fifth consecutive league loss.
Goals from Dean Cornelius and Kevin Van Veen meant that the Saints remained at the foot of the Scottish Premiership.
And Gordon said: “First and foremost we need to start doing our jobs better. Collectively as a team, I think everyone can do better.
“There is no-one with pass marks at the moment. That is hard for me to say playing for St Johnstone.
“We have always prided ourselves on the heart and work ethic of the team. I think we can all be better.
“It’s something we need to address and need to address it quickly.”
A lack of goals continues to be a big problem but Saints are far from cut adrift.
They sit only one point behind 11th-placed Ross County, who visit Perth on Wednesday. That is a huge game.
Gordon added: “The games are coming thick and fast, and we’re going to find ourselves in a worse position than we are already in if we don’t start to up our game.
“We’ve got good players and have players who have been there and done it. I fully back the players we’ve got right now to get us out of this mess.”
