Barry Robson takes Aberdeen FC blame before naming the 'sucker punch' behind key Kilmarnock problem

Barry Robson took the blame for Aberdeen’s awful showing at Kilmarnock.

The Pittodrie gaffer admitted he should have made more changes to his starting line-up as his lethargic side slipped to a 2-0 defeat. Exertions from the Europa League loss against PAOK three days previously took their toll. The leggy Dons never got going in Ayrshire and turned in a hugely-disappointing display which brought some boos from the visiting support.

Robson said: “We were poor. In the first half, I didn’t think it was a very good game. They scored right before half-time, which was a bit of a sucker punch for us. But the biggest problem was probably my fault. I should have freshened the team up more from Thursday night. It was pretty evident that we looked leggy in the first half.

“We made a change at half-time and tried to change the shape, but it’s hard. That was on me. I should have freshened the team up more.

“We needed some fresh legs. I think we would have seen a different team. We’re not looking for excuses. We should come down here and try to win the game. We weren’t at our best at all. I should’ve changed it from the start and I think we’d have had a better outcome.

“It wasn’t a good enough performance from us. Across the board, we need to be better. Our league form hasn’t been good enough. It’s been stop-start with games being cancelled or moved.

“But if you want to play at this level, play in Europe and go far in cups, you need to deal with that. We’ve not dealt with it so far, so we need to start doing that better.

“Some of the boys have been in good form. A lot of it has just been individual errors that have cost us in the last two games. We all make mistakes. I’ve made a mistake by not freshening the team up.”

Aberdeen’s loss