Scott Brown says Ayr will heed Championship warning and sets sights on home comforts
Scott Brown insists Ayr can heed their Championship warning with a quick return to form.
United made a slow start at Arbroath on Friday night, in which they laboured for much of the league curtain raiser.
Brown admits Ayr will need to up their game dramatically to be at the sharp end this season - but says the opening day draw has focused minds on what's required.
He told the Ayrshire Post: 'We know how difficult this league can be from one week to the next. Friday night just proved that.
'The thing that frustrated me the most was how we fell into the trap of going long to our two strikers all night.
'We needed to show more composure on the ball and I hoped that getting the early goal would have allowed us to kick on.'
Ayr have a chance to set the tone on home soil when they welcome Raith this Saturday. United were strong at Somerset last season and Brown wants more of the same this time.
He said: 'We'll look to use the surface to our advantage and get it down and play. We've got good footballers in the team and we need to make the most of them.'
Meanwhile, Brown has acknowledged the ongoing miss that is skipper Ben Dempsey, who has been sidelined since the end of last season with a knee injury.
United's influential captain has seen a specialist in a bid to cure the problem and will not be rushed back as he bids to return.
Brown said: "Ben is the captain of the club and a massive player for us. So not having him around is a blow. He sets the tempo for everyone and was tremendous for us last season.
'The priority has been getting him back in with us and we're building him up from there. We're starting to see progress on that now."
Kevin Holt underwent a small operation on his groin last week but is not expected to miss much game time.
Stuart Bannigan is back in training following an interrupted pre-season, with Brown keen to see what he adds to the squad.
The boss said: 'It's been frustrating for Banzo as he's had a couple of niggles and missed a lot of the work. So that's put him behind.
'But when he does come back in he'll add that bit of experience in there.'
Anton Dowds is continuing his long road back from injury but United won't rush the striker, who ruptured his ACL last September.
United want to add a defender from Celtic as part of the co-op deal rubber stamped last week. Kyle Ure and Jude Bonnar have already made the move from Parkhead.
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