LEE ASHCROFT felt Athletic let themselves down in their opening league defeat this season but says they’re ready to bounce back up this afternoon.

The influential centre back described the second-half collapse at Morton, where the Pars blew a two-goal advantage to lose in stoppage time, as a “kick in the stones” but reckons a top-of-the-table battle with St Mirren can provide the ideal remedy.

The Buddies leapfrogged Dunfermline into top spot after beating Inverness Caledonian Thistle but Ashcroft, at a loss as to how his team conspired to throw away the points at Cappielow, is hopeful that home comforts can send them back to the summit.

“It was one of those games that you can’t really explain and we all let ourselves down,” he told Press Sport this week.

“At 2-0, we felt comfortable and if we’d kept it tight for the first 10-15 minutes of the second half, I think we’d have been OK and maybe added another goal. To concede in the 47th minute wasn’t ideal and we weren’t good enough after that.

“At 2-1, they got on top of us and were picking up the second balls. At 2-0 up you think you’re near enough to the points so it was a kick in the stones but we’ve got the perfect game to bounce back in on Saturday.

“It’s a massive game this weekend. St Mirren might be anxious coming here because of the way we’ve been playing so far, especially at home. We’ve been flying out there and we hope to keep it up and put things right.

“When you’re winning and you get that defeat, it is a hard one to take, but it’s something we’ll learn from.”

Despite the disappointment of seeing their run of five successive wins in all competitions come to an end, the 24-year-old says that the squad are not allowing it to cloud what has been an impressive start to the campaign.

The Pars have smashed home 15 goals in their opening five league matches and former Kilmarnock man Ashcroft reckons they’re in a good place to mount a promotion challenge.

“If we play the way we have been playing at home then I’m confident we can put it behind us at the weekend,” he continued.

“We know that if we play the way we’re capable of then teams will be fearful coming here. At the top is where we want and expect to be, and that makes a result like Saturday’s so gutting, because we know we’re better than that.”