Dick Campbell wants to see more “elbow grease” from his Arbroath players as they seek to extend a club record away run at Ayr this afternoon.
The veteran manager has vowed to make changes to his starting line-up in their clash with the League One leaders on the back of a frustrating home defeat to East Fife last weekend.
“I wouldn’t expect to lose three goals like that in a season, let alone one game,” he said.
“I have to say that I still feel that we’re not quite up for it as much as I would want to see.
“There are a few games in which we haven’t worked hard enough.
“We’ve got good players and I still think we’ll do well but if there are any players who think this will be a cake-walk they’ll find out they’re not in the team.
“You need to put in the elbow grease.
“One of the biggest tools you can have as a manager is being able to pick the team.
“There will be changes for Saturday, that’s for sure.”
Campbell is optimistic that his message has already got through.
“I was really pleased with us against Dundee in midweek (a closed-doors game),” he said. “We played well. Hopefully we’ve got the East Fife game out of our system.
“We’ve got an amazing away record (16 league matches without defeat). Even though Ayr haven’t dropped a point yet and they’re a full-time team, if we’re at our best I know we can get a result.”