Aberdeen midfielder Lewis Ferguson revealed the squad were told in no uncertain terms that their Scottish Cup quarter-final display was unacceptable.

But the players needed no confirmation that their 3-0 defeat by Dundee United was not up to standards.

New boss Stephen Glass made his feelings clear following his first defeat and Ferguson admits he cannot explain what went so badly wrong.

The Scotland Under-21 international is determined to put things right at Livingston on Saturday as the Dons seek to keep their slim hopes of third place in the Scottish Premiership alive.

“Sunday was quite clearly nowhere near good enough from everybody,” Ferguson said.

“Everyone on the pitch for us did not perform the way we should have. You can sometimes get away with a couple of players having an off day, but not everyone. We were not at the races. I don’t know why. We were simply not good enough, myself included.

“We completely dropped our standards and Dundee United were by far the better team on the day. And that should not happen at Pittodrie. They fully deserved to go through and we deserved absolutely nothing from the game. We got what we deserved.

“The gaffer and the coaching staff made it quite clear that the performance was nowhere near the standards this club sets. The way we performed on Sunday was nowhere near that. They made that very clear after the game.

“Everyone knows that though.

“It is us – the players – who need to have a look at ourselves and put things right. We can only do that out on the pitch. Every time you suffer a sore one you have to go and put things right. We have that chance on Saturday.

“This week is about trying to focus on the next game. You don’t want to dwell too much on a bad result. It is all about working hard this week and putting things right. We have been working hard with the coaches on setting the team up the way they want us to go and play.

“Going down to Livingston is never easy, they always make it difficult, it is a fight and a scrap, but it is something we have to be up for if we are going to go there and win. We have to do that side of the game as well as playing well.”