Arbroath manager Todd Lumsden is looking for a consistently high 90 minute performance when the Gayfield side face League Two leaders Annan at Galabank today.
The Red Lichties fought back from a goal down at half-time to East Fife a fortnight ago to win a point, however last weekend a first half lead was lost to 10 men as Stirling Albion picked up a 3-1 victory.
Lumsden explained: “It is a sore one last Saturday but it is an experience that we should use to kick start us. The first half was excellent and, as hard as it is as the second half was poor, that is what we need to focus on.
“We were comfortable at that time and Bobby Linn scored a good goal and could have scored a couple more. In fact we had more chances when they had 11 men than when they had 10.”
The second half saw a marked difference with Lumsden saying: “We knew that they would come at us but we never dealt with it. We never took the game to them enough and when they became very compact after going to ten men we never moved the ball about smartly. It is done now and we move on.
“It was a role reversal to the East Fife game where we were pretty average in the first half and great in the second. You usually look for game to game consistency however we are looking for half to half consistency against Annan.”
Lumsden added: “Annan are a side that have hit a level of performance every week that has allowed them to pick up the wins required to go to the top of the table. They can grind out successes when required however our last game against them was tight. If we play at a good level for the 90 minutes we can win.”
Ricky Little is suspended with Kieran Stewart remaining out with a hip problem.