Aberdeen's chart topping form that put the Dons on top of the table has come crashing down, and their captain Graeme Shinnie is well aware the slump in form has to end.

After singing about winning the league, and after 10 victories and a draw in their opening 11 games, the joy has been replaced by the sound of despair on repeat.

Right now it's not difficult to see what’s behind the outrageous downturn in fortunes. The Dons can’t score goals - and they can’t stop conceding them.

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Shinnie certainly wasn’t for over-complicating the problems that have seen his side plummet from the summit of the Premiership 10 games ago to suddenly sit 19 points off top spot having played a game more than Celtic.

The Pittodrie skipper says unacceptable defensive errors are "killing" Jimmy Thelin’s side. If they don’t sort them out soon their hopes of a Euro spot will soon die off too, writes the Daily Record.

Three points amassed from the last 10 games having taken 31 from their first 11 matches tells the story of a side in free fall - a far too familiar feeling from recent seasons.

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Sunday’s 2-0 defeat at Motherwell made it 20 goals conceded and just eight scored in those 10 winless games - in stark contrast to the 24 that were scored and 10 that were shipped in the first 11 matches.

Asked where it’s all gone wrong Shinnie cut straight to the heart of the matter. The midfielder said: "Defensively - as a team - conceding too many goals. If you look at the first 10 games, we didn't concede a lot. We were winning 1-0, 2-1 and it was giving us a platform to win games.

"We're not doing that now. At Motherwell we looked like we were on the front foot, looking like the team that were dangerous and going to score. Then we conceded and we're 1-0 down. We're not giving ourselves that defensive platform to go on and win games.

"We've lost two sloppy goals again - we're killing ourselves at the back. We're gifting teams goals and it's putting us on the back foot every game. It's not acceptable. We need to get better."

Making mistakes is one thing. But not learning from them is an entirely different problem. Angus MacDonald was the man at fault as Well surged 2-0 ahead on Sunday after being caught with one simple ball over the top that allowed Tawanda Maswanhise to pull down and slide home a wonderful goal.

But across the last two months the blame game has been shared across a side that’s sitting second bottom of the Premiership form table for the last 14 matches.

Slobodan Rubezic was another sinner on Sunday as his wild over-reaction to a taunting Tony Watt left the Dons a man down before the break with the score already 1-0 to the Steelmen.

And Shinnie said: "He's obviously apologetic and he knows he's done wrong. But he's one of us and we'll look after him. Even down to 10 men, I thought we had control of the game. We just needed to get the ball in the back of the net, which we didn't do.

"How do we sort it? We've lost a lot of goals the same way. We need to learn. If you don't learn from that, then it's tough.

"Back when we lost our first game against St Mirren, we conceded a goal that day that was very similar to against Motherwell. That's something that only we can change. We as a squad, with the staff, need to change it.

"In the first half especially, before the goal, I thought we were on the front foot. We were playing with a little more confidence. We had good moments in the game and looked like our ourselves. But then you concede that goal and it puts you on the back foot.

"The red card comes, it is what it is. You try and deal with and then get into half-time and regroup. However, we then conceded straight away. A straight ball and he runs in and scores. That side of it is not acceptable."

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To be fair to Thelin, the Swede refused to get carried away when his side were flying high two months ago. Equally he refuses to get too downbeat despite the woeful run of form. New recruits will be brought in this month with winger Jeppe Okkels close to agreeing a loan switch from Preston.

Shinnie knows fresh blood is important - but insists the quality is already in the building to get the Dons signing again. He said: “Without a doubt. The quality is in the squad. You've seen that in the first 10 games. The quality is there. It's just getting it back and that's what we need to find.

“It's always a time of the season where players come and go. Whether players go out or players come in, it's always something that happens. It's a hard window to get players in. But I'm sure the recruitment team will be working hard to look for players.”