‘We owe the fans an apology for that scoreline’

a record 12-1 loss to Motherwell in 1954. Coming on the back of a 7-0 thrashing to AZ Alkmaar in the Europa Conference League qualifiers, his side have now lost five consecutive games and conceded 23 goals in the last four to leave them bottom of the Premiership. The former Hibs and St Mirren manager has vowed to fight on and put things right. Ashen-faced as he emerged from the dressing room an hour after the final whistle, Ross said: ‘It was humiliating and embarrassing for me, personally and professionally, because of the pride you have in doing your job properly. The players should feel the same way. ‘We should never be beaten by that scoreline in football at any level and, for the fanbase of the club, I know they’ll feel that way and the responsibility for that falls on my shoulders.

‘We owe the supporters an apology because of the scoreline and the manner of the goals we concede. And large aspects of the performance were not reflective of wearing a jersey in professional football. Secondly, my determination to put this right will remain consistent. ‘I’ve done this for a long time and worked in a consistent manner. So, when I talk about being humiliated and embarrassed, I want to fix that. ‘You need to have faith in your managerial ability through previous experiences and the challenges I have overcome in my football and coaching career. It’s not in my character not to believe I can do it, and not to want to do it. ‘We conceded goals that were akin to training-ground exercises against mannequins. That’s an accurate description. It’s not a good description to have against your players but that’s what it was like.’ Asked if the nature of the result and performance marked his lowest point as a manager, Ross admitted: ‘In terms of what I have seen on the pitch in relation to the work we do, yes. It’s a long, long way away from what we try to do. ‘I’ve had difficult periods, as every manager does. Ups and downs. ‘I don’t think there has been a period like this where I have seen a team give such an inaccurate reflection of what we did beforehand. ‘If you look back through my managerial career and speak to players I’ve worked with, I own a lot of responsibility and I’m very protective of my players. But you also can’t shy away from individual ownership of personal performances. Players need to own theirs. ‘You can protect and shield them, but they need to find whether they have the stomach and the heart to put that right.’ Now facing an awkward Premier Sports Cup clash against Livingston on the Tony Macaroni Arena artificial pitch on Wednesday night, Ross wants a huge reaction to yesterday’s woeful display. ‘We don’t stop speaking to them, we don’t stop preparing properly, we don’t stop planning as thoroughly as we can, and being as professional as we can be. We have got to keep doing that,’ he said. ‘The day I stop doing that, and my staff stop doing that, we are in even more trouble. I have to find a way between now and Wednesday to raise them individually and as a team. ‘Because ultimately when they cross into that area out there between the white lines, they can only really affect the outcome of the game, and they are going to have to do that on Wednesday.’