Adelaide United coach Carl Veart has slammed the Reds' performance after they were held to a 1-1 draw by A-League Men bottom side Brisbane Roar.
Teenager Harry Crawford scored his maiden goal in just his fourth appearance with a stunning strike in first-half injury time, before fellow 18-year-old Jacob Brazete came off the bench for Brisbane to net an equally impressive leveller midway through the first half.
The match was played in sweltering conditions at Coopers Stadium on Saturday, with the temperature hovering either side of 34 degrees once the game kicked off, and Veart also brought the heat after the game.
"I think the first 10 minutes of the second half we were OK," Veart said.
"After that we were non-existent. Too many players went hiding and weren't prepared to do the work, it's as simple as that.
"We didn't keep the ball, we didn't look to play forward. It was just not good enough for a team that's pushing for a top-two spot - that was unacceptable."
The draw means the Reds could finish the weekend as low as fifth, depending on other results.
Veart conceded it was the most frustrated he has been all season, and promised to ring in the changes for United's home clash against Macarthur FC on Friday night.
"Most definitely. Last week I thought we brought the energy, the effort was fantastic," he said, reflecting on the Reds' 4-4 draw against league leaders Auckland last Saturday.
"I thought it was probably the best it's been all season last week, and then to come back home playing against the bottom team and put that performance out there is unacceptable, and there will be changes made to the team from that."
The result marked seven points dropped at home this season against teams occupying positions in the bottom three, having previously drawn 2-2 with Perth Glory and lost 2-1 to the Newcastle Jets.
"It's a mentality thing; it's a bit of a weakness of our side," Veart said.
"The proof is in the pudding. They might not be happy that I'm saying that, but it is. You cannot be dropping points at home to the bottom teams if you want to win things.
"We talk about challenging and we talk about what we need to do to challenge, and it's easy to talk about it, but it's up to all of us to put the performances in to match that talk, and we just haven't done it against these bottom teams."
Roar coach Ruben Zadkovich applauded Brisbane's performance and said it was unfortunate his side didn't snatch an unlikely win.
"We've put in some really good performances this year without getting the result,'' he said.
"It's not the result we wanted today, make no mistake we wanted to win the match.
"I think we created some really good openings in the second half and I think we probably should've won it.
"I'm extremely proud of my players. I've said it week in, week out."
