Hamilton Accies boss John Rankin admits his side were left 'humiliated' after Raith Rovers blew them away in the opening half hour - and says he shoulders the blame for a third straight Championship defeat.
The South Lanarkshire side found themselves 2-0 down within seven minutes after quick-fire strikes from Finlay Pollok and Jamie Gullan, before Aidan Marsh completed the scoring in a 3-0 win after just 30 minutes.
It keeps Accies just two points above the relegation play-off spot, with a game in hand over Dunfermline, and Rankin admitted it was an embarrassing night for his side.
He said: "As a group we are humiliated, we are embarrassed by the first half performance.
"That is on me. I pick the team, I pick the shape and the way we are going to play and I've got big shoulders, I'll take responsibility for that. We need players who will take responsibility on the pitch as well, but this is fully on me and we need a response quickly.
"I'm more angry than anything. It is a sore one to take. We needed a reaction to Saturday and it looked more like a hangover than a reaction, and that's the disappointing part.
"We spoke about rolling our sleeves up and being aggressive but I don't think we were like that in the first half."
Rankin made four changes at half-time and at least saw his side become more competitive after the break, but the damage had already been done.
He added: "I could have made 11 changes at half-time. I don't think anybody deserved to stay on the pitch.
"It was reasonable to make the four changes and I felt we got a reaction. But it is okay getting a reaction, the game is done and it could only be an improvement on the first half."
Accies must pick themselves up for the visit of high-flying Ayr United on
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