Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin pointed to a lack of care on the ball as a major factor in the 3-0 defeat to Rangers.

“I think still we are in a moment where are a little bit too stressed when we have the ball ourselves, we lack the composure with the ball and the calmness with the ball. That’s what happened tonight, we gave away too many transitions and played into their strengths.

“Still we have a job to do to find this rhythm. There are a lot of reasons why we are not there right now, but we have to find a way soon to get the results and to get out on the other side.

“We tried to stay into the game. They had more shots, that was clear, but if we stay in the game until the end, then it’s always an opportunity to get something. Sometimes when you don’t have the performance, if you stay in the game, still you can get that chance that you need to get a point. Even if we don’t have the rhythm right now with the ball and give away these transitions, the players were running for each other to the last minute. This spirit is important.”

There were promising second half debuts for Alfie Dorrington and Alexander Jensen, but the manager warned of the dangers of pushing them too hard, too soon.

“I think the new players come to us from different situations, in pre-season or between season for some. Alexander Jensen played tonight after one day with us and did a good performance when he came in. Kristers Tobers has done well in two games now, and Alfie Dorrington came in to play centre-back in a difficult game, and he did well also. They need some time to be able to play a lot of games so that they don’t get injuries, but they did well today.”

The Dons’ attentions turn to Elgin City and the Scottish Cup on Saturday, with an urgent need to get back to winning ways.

“First of all, we have to go through in the Cup, we have to win on Saturday. That’s an important thing, then we have one week to the next league game, and it will give us some time to prepare for that game and get all the new players into the team. We have to give everything we can now on the Cup game and get through that, and then we take the next league game from that.

“As well as finding the way out of this run, we have to stay focused on the long-term and believe in what we are doing. We have some challenges right now, we have to do better, because that’s where we are, we don’t get the results. But I still feel and believe that we can, quite soon, find a way out of this and be a much more stable team.”