BEN Dempsey insists Ayr will not allow standards to drop after losing their unbeaten Championship run.
United were well beaten at Falkirk on Saturday, leading to a blast from furious boss Scott Brown.
Skipper Dempsey admits the performance was nowhere near the mark – but is adamant his side can move on quickly and bounce back to form.
He said: “We struggled from the word go and it wasn’t good enough all over the pitch, really. We knew they were a good side coming into it but we just didn’t battle and the scoreline could have been a lot worse than it was.
“We can’t let it happen again and now need to show a reaction.”
Brown questioned whether Ayr’s early season hype had led to them freezing on the big stage as Falkirk ran out comfortable winners.
But Dempsey insisted: “I know the boys and it’s definitely not a case of anyone thinking they’re too good. For whatever reason we did not step up to the plate and we were dominated all over the park. All we can do now is react.
“We’ll have to analyse this because from minute one to 90 it wasn’t good enough. Yes it was our first defeat but we can’t allow this to creep in moving forward.
“As a team we believe we can go toe to toe with Falkirk but we didn’t show that on the pitch. They’re a good side but we know we’re a good side as well.
“The key thing is we need to put our stamp on games early and maintain it for the 90 minutes. Although this is our first loss, in the last few weeks we’ve been starting slowly and it’s been a case of one poor half and one good half and we cannot allow that to continue.”