The Red Lichties tumbled to second bottom in League One after defeat to Stranraer their sixth in seven games and Gayfield boss Paul Sheerin knows he is facing the most testing period of his managerial career.
The former St Johnstone star is under no illusions as to the position he finds himself in as the halfway point of the season approaches.
He said: “We are now in a dogfight, there’s no doubt about that. It’s a situation which will test me and it will test the players.
“Our aspirations at the start of the season were to be in the promotion play-offs but now we find ourselves at the wrong end of the table.
“The buck stops with me and I’ll be looking carefully at what I’ve done and what I need to do. I’ll certainly be looking to strengthen the squad.”
It took Stranraer a mere 95 seconds to open the scoring, Jamie Longworth heading home a Sean Winter cross to claim his 16th goal of the season.
The early setback stunned the home side and for a while the visitors looked more than capable of adding to their tally as Longworth and former Lichtie Scott Robertson both went close to scoring.
But Arbroath weathered the storm and gradually began to gain a foothold in the contest with Bobby Linn looking particularly menacing.
The Arbroath midfielder created his team’s first chance just after the half-hour mark but was denied by David Mitchell’s wonderful save.
The equaliser came 45 seconds into the second period when Steven Doris nodded home from close range after a Ross Chisholm shot had been blocked.
Doris scored 61 goals in 158 appearances for the Lichties over a five-year period before joining Dundee in the summer but he has struggled to make his mark at Dens and has now rejoined his former club on loan until the end of January.
A few minutes later Michael Travis crashed a header against the bar and the Stranraer defence scrambled the rebound away to safety.
Chris Scott then created another opportunity for Doris but the striker directed the ball over the top from close range.
Just when it seemed that Sheerin’s side was beginning to gain the upper hand, Stranraer won a free-kick 20 yards out on the far left corner of the home penalty box and Chris Aitken stepped up to curl the ball over the wall, beyond the reach of Scott Morrison, and into the top corner of the net for what proved to be the winner.