Ayr Utd: Lee Bullen insists side working on defensive issues

It comes as The Honest Men's defensive frailties came to the fore in the 2-1 loss to Raith Rovers on Saturday, September 30.

It was a match where Ayr more than matched their opposition, who lie in second position in the Scottish Championship, but a manic 15 minute spell cost them dearly.

A Dylan East double in four first half minutes saw Ayr fall behind heading into the break meaning - despite a strong showing during the second 45 in which Anton Dowds halved the deficit before the 50 minute mark - United were unable to take any points away from the tie at Somerset Park.

And speaking to the Advertiser, boss Bullen was left frustrated after watching his side leak goals far too easily.

He said: "We can’t afford to give teams two goals of a start in this league and expect to win football matches – it’s just not good enough.

“We had a 15-minute spell where we were miles off and we couldn’t stem the flow from them.

“Bizarrely, second half we decided to turn up again and we had all the momentum and they struggled to stop the flow and we got a goal, we could have got two but it’s all hard luck stories.

“It’s all ifs and buts and ultimately the only stat that counts is the 2-1 scoreline.”

The manager insists it is an issue they are working tirelessly to iron out.

Bullen continued: “We’ve changed formation, we’ve changed a couple of players, we’ve changed bits and pieces – we’re trying to find a solution to it.

“We work on defensive unit work, we work on attack versus defence during the week but when we go into games we just get picked apart.

“Ultimately you’ve got to give credit to the opposition but we’ve got to be way better than that, we’ve got to be way more ruthless than that.

“It’s not just pointing fingers at defenders because your defensive work starts with your two strikers, your attacking work starts with your goalkeeper – it’s an overall team thing. It’s just about individual responsibility at times.”

The result also means United have kept only one clean sheet so far this season, against Inverness - and have conceded two or more goals in each of their six other matches.

“It’s all we can do," Bullen commented, "keep pushing and demanding and eventually it hopefully sorts itself out.

“We have kept a clean sheet so we’ve proved we can keep clean sheets but we certainly need to be way more ruthless in this league.

“The fact of the matter is that the first goal is so crucial.”

Though Bullen was also able to draw some positives from the match, with Ayr more than matching Ian Murray's side for large periods of the game.

United posed a very strong attacking threat, and but for a few squandered opportunities and some inspired goalkeeping from Kevin Dabrowski, could have taken something from the match despite going two down.

He commented: “Compared to where we were after the first three league games of the season – I thought we were struggling to create any sort of opportunities – since then at least we are creating chances and look like we are a massive threat up front.

“It’s a much bigger issue when you’re not creating chances, now I’m certain we look a lot more dangerous, a lot more confident in creating opportunities, now we just have to get a bit more confidence for the hardest part - in taking those chances.”

The Ayr boss added that new signings beginning to bed in after a turbulent start to the season is certainly helping out.

Bullen said: “Now we’re starting to get settled down and the players are starting to understand each other because we did have those three four new players coming in and we did look disjointed.

“We’re starting to look a bit more cohesive on occasion, don’t get me wrong for that 15 minutes in the first half against Raith we looked completely disjointed.

"But for the other 70-75 minutes of the game we looked a half decent side against what will probably be one of the challengers in the league with the players they’ve signed and money they’ve spent.

“That makes it more frustrating, if we had been played off the park like we had in the first three games of the season you hold your hands up and say we’re not good enough – but that’s far from the truth.

“We’re well capable of matching the teams that are going to be near the top and we’re well capable of being one of those teams if we continue to perform – we just have to be more ruthless in both boxes.”

Though with his side currently sitting in eighth place after seven games, and six points off the play-offs, Bullen said he would be more than happy with scrappier performances if it got points on the board.

With only trips to Dunfermline and Airdrie to come before Ayr have played every side in the league Bullen says he is confident that his side can match up with the best, but now need the results to prove it.

He continued: “We certainly proved we can match it, but we just have to be a lot tighter defensively, to try and scrape a few 1-0 wins.

“That’s the type of thing I would like to see the next couple of games, just go out and get a couple of clean sheets and get scrappy 1-0 wins to get ourselves back on track.

“We want to finish with two wins before the end of the first quarter, that’s be 12 points. Our worst quarter last year was over the Christmas period where we took 11 points – we’re trying to improve on that.

“We know that with a little bit of momentum and the players that we have within the squad they are well capable of matching anybody in the league.

“Hopefully that builds a little bit of confidence going into the second quarter and we can start to push up this league a little bit – that’s got to be the aim, that’s got the be the belief.”