Arbroath suffered a seventh defeat of the season – their fourth at home – as their poor start to the season continued against Ayr United.
The Lichties went close against the table-topping Honest Men with Bobby Linn again their main goal threat.
But they couldn’t build on last week’s win over Hamilton and, again, last season’s top scorers in the Championship failed to hit the net.
It means Arbroath prop up the league table once more.
Courier Sport takes a look at three talking points from another disappointing afternoon at Gayfield.
Long balls
Saturday’s game started off with Arbroath fans feeling a sense of déjà vu. Their side were again trying to play long balls to the forwards.
They did it against Raith Rovers and Hamilton, to some extent, with little success.
Punts over the top just were not paying off. Michael McKenna, who is usually good in the air, and Bobby Linn stood little chance against towering centre backs Sean McGinty and Alex Kirk, who were heading balls away with ease.
The hoofed balls were bypassing their creative talent in Scott Allan and coming straight back at them.
On the few occasions Arbroath did manage to create one-on-one chances, they looked to be dangerous.
In the second half, the Lichties sought to get the ball on the ground and it proved more effective.
Allan came more into the game and set up Linn for the home side’s best chance on 64 minutes when the score was still 0-0.
Ayr did begin to sit back and get men behind the ball but Arbroath looked far more dangerous when they tried to play with the ball at their feet.
Scott Bitsindou injury fear
If another home defeat consigning his side to the bottom of the league wasn’t bad enough, Dick Campbell saw his side pick up yet another injury.
With skipper Tam O’Brien out with a knock and Scott Stewart still working his way back to fitness adding another player to the physio list was the last thing the side needed, particularly in the defensive area.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to rain but pour for Arbroath at the moment with Scott Bitsindou pulling up just before Ayr’s opener.
The Livi loanee, who looked impressive at the back standing in for O’Brien, went down after running for a loose ball.
There was no one around him at the time and the 26-year-old’s immediate reaction indicated it wasn’t a good sign.
After the game, Ian Campbell feared the Congo international could be out for a while.
He said: “It’s a Hamstring injury. He could be out for a few weeks, but we don’t know yet.”
Arbroath will hope that’s not the case after Bitsindou is assessed by his parent club next week.
Puzzling substitutions
For the third game running, Dick Campbell started the clash with no recognised strikers on the field.
Michael McKenna played a makeshift centre-forward role with winger Bobby Linn providing support from the left.
The Lichtie legend went close on three occasions and was unlucky not to net once.
But the boys in maroon found themselves one down and chasing a goal.
Campbell made three substitutions in a bid to level the scoring but, much to the dismay of the home support, not one was a striker.
Midfielder Daniel Fosu was the first to come on, replacing the injured Bitsindou. Then defender Mason Hancock was introduced before winger Deri Corfe came on.
Those remaining on the bench, aside from replacement keeper Cammy Gill, were three forwards; Dale Hilson, Kieran Shanks and Kareem Isiaka.
Hilson, who has been used in most games this season, was injured last week which could be why he wasn’t called upon.
New signings Shanks and Isiaka, meanwhile, have seen their game time limited.
With just eight goals to show so far, it’s understandable that Arbroath supporters are starting to ask questions about their strikers’ absences.
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