Ian Murray said Raith Rovers have struggled to cope with “the weight of expectancy” at times this season.
The Rovers boss was disappointed after his side followed up a win over the league leaders with a defeat to the team propping up the division going into this.
Raith took the lead through Steve Lawson’s own goal minutes after the break but headers from Dylan McGowan and Benny Ashley-Seal gave Accies the points.
Murray’s side are now seven points off Partick Thistle in fourth with six games remaining.
“I’m disappointed more than anything, we didn’t get anywhere near the levels for today to win the game,” said the Rovers manager.
“We never had a shot on target, you’re never going to win if you don’t have a shot on target.
“That’s not a strikers thing or our a wingers thing, that’s a collective issue.
“We just didn’t handle the game. We didn’t handle expectancy. We almost seem a better team when we’re underdogs.
“Every time we’ve had a weight of expectancy on us we’ve not really done it and we see them perform better without that burden.
“It’s something we need to look at going forward in terms of our mentality and get rid of this little bit of entitlement that hangs around the club at times.”
No room for error
Defending set-pieces has been an issue for Rovers this season and, after some recent improvement, it returned for this defeat.
The home side, after getting themselves ahead, couldn’t deal with two Connor Smith from deep in the space of two minutes that turned the game on its head.
It was also the first time this season Accies have come from behind to win.
“We probably have to win all [our games] now to have any chance,” said Murray.
“We need to be realistic and that’s a hard ask at some really tough venues.
“We are capable of doing it but we have no room now for error. We have to go up to Inverness and win the game on Saturday.”
Accies boss John Rankin was happy with his side bouncing back from their 7-0 drubbing at Dundee.
“I’m absolutely delighted, first and foremost, with the performance,” said Rankin.
“After Saturday, I knew I was getting a performance. I didn’t know I was getting a result, but I knew I was getting a performance.
“They were unrecognisable from Saturday.”
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