Gary Bowyer has apologised to the travelling Dundee fans after his Dark Blues side were beaten 3-1 on the road at Somerset Park.
Ayr United came into the game top of the Championship table with in-form striker Dipo Akinyemi firing in the goals.
And he made it six in just five games with a double either side of Jordan Houston’s second-half strike as the Dee wilted under the pressure in Ayrshire.
Zak Rudden had opened the scoring after just four minutes, getting Bowyer’s men off to a flying start.
But it didn’t last as Akinyemi bundled in for 1-1 after 17 minutes.
The Dundee boss questioned the lack of whistle from the referee as the goal went in but he was more disappointed with the reaction from his side as the Honest Men took the points to go four points clear at the top.
“We started very well, we scored a good goal,” Bowyer said.
“Their equaliser came off the lad’s arm but that said it rocked us.
“Ayr are top of the league for a reason and I think in the second half you saw that.”
‘Stuff we’ve talked about and worked on’
After a first half where they were second best, Bowyer sent on Zach Robinson to partner Rudden up front.
And immediately the chances began to come for his side but both frontmen passed up opportunities before Ayr countered and took the lead through Houston’s 20-yard strike.
“We’ve not made the right decision again, we’ve spoken about that before,” the Dundee boss added.
Turn, boom! 💥
Dipo Akinyemi does it again 👏
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— BBC Sport Scotland (@BBCSportScot) August 26, 2022
“We made a positive change in the second half with putting Zach Robinson up front.
“But we are disappointed with the manner of the goals.
“The two goals are great strikes but the manner in which they get to there is stuff that we’ve talked about and worked on.
“It’s about what happens in the two boxes that really matters and we haven’t done enough in either tonight.
“We need to apologise to those travelling supporters on a Friday night, that’s not good enough from us.”
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