John Rankin has urged his Hamilton Accies side to roll up their sleeves, get stuck in, and get fans back onside.
And he says Accies need to give fans a reason to get behind them.
Rankin and his players received criticism from the stands as they went 4-1 down to Cove Rangers on Saturday, but received a standing ovation when they pulled it back to 4-4.
As he prepares for Saturday’s Championship trip to Raith Rovers, the Accies boss says his side need to show that fight all the time, but also cut out mistakes.
He said: “You could have heard a pin drop at their fourth goal. The shout I heard was ‘you’ve lost the dressing room’ and I touched on that at half-time.
“At that point, when we got back in the game, it shows that the boys are behind what we’re trying to do and get that it’s as frustrating for me as it is for them.
“All they want to see is effort and hard work, and I’m trying to get that across to the players to roll your sleeves up, get stuck in, win your first battle, second ball, pick up the third if need be.
“Run alongside somebody, don’t just run as if you’re matching the run. Get a tackle in, get a body contact and make them feel as if they’re in a game, and they’ll be behind you.
“I felt we never did that in the first 45 minutes, so they’ve got every right to vent their frustration.
“We say about the supporters making noise, but we need to give them a reason to make noise.
“All they want is endeavour and hard work. Obviously they want quality as well, but I always think with endeavour and hard work you get quality.
“I saw the celebration at the end when the fans are giving the players a standing ovation on the way off the pitch.
“You need to put teams under pressure. I felt we did that in the second half and the players merited the crowd’s response at the end, but not for their first.”
Accies climbed off the foot of the table with the point on Saturday, and Rankin says a win at Stark’s Park would make all the difference.
He said: “Three points changes your working week, it changes the noise about the place. It’s not a quiet place anyway, the boys are on good form.
“But you’re judged on results, and we need to start picking up wins, and we need to kick on.
“We score some good goals, we create some good chances, but we also give away sloppy chances and easy goals, so we need to tidy up in both boxes and be more ruthless at both ends of the pitch.”
Rankin says players are doing their best, and in some cases, are young guys learning their trade – so he says if fans shout at him, it takes some of that pressure off.
He said: “It’s their club, they’re desperate for us to do well, but this is my livelihood and every effort goes into making it successful, so it’s equally frustrating for me.
“I roll my sleeves up, and sometimes I wish I was on the pitch and able to help, but you’ve got players who are out there, learning the game and trying to improve.
“When fans vent frustrations at me it probably gives them that bit of freedom to go and play, and that puts a smile on my face.
“My shoulders are big enough, it doesn’t make any difference to me, but those players need to go and be able to express themselves with a freedom and in an environment where they feel safe.
“You have to give the players credit – we were three goals down at one point and they didn’t give up, the spirit was great, they kept going.
“But we need to take away these errors, because they’re happening too often.
“It’s things that are easy to solve, but it’s not the same player that’s making the same mistake every week, it’s a different player and it’s spread throughout.
“If we can get to that stage, where the errors aren’t costing us, and we’re able to keep clean sheets, then that’s obviously the aim.”
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