Neil Warnock claimed his Aberdeen players were too nice after being “bullied” in a 2-0 defeat at Kilmarnock.
The Dons manager admitted the performance looked “pathetic” and questioned whether he could do anything about their major weakness during his spell in charge until the end of the season.
Corrie Ndaba shook off the attentions of Bojan Miovski to head home the opener in first-half stoppage-time and Matty Kennedy netted against his former club as Killie enjoyed a comfortable second half.
The Dons are now without a win in eight cinch Premiership games, four of them under Warnock, and are as close to the bottom two as they are the top six with five points separating them either way.
Warnock said: “I just think it’s the physical aspect – we haven’t got any physical presence really in the whole squad.
“I don’t think we did too bad in the first half regarding the way they play and how we competed, because they are a lot more physical than us.
“But to give a goal away like that sends you in at half-time heads down. Bojan’s defending, it’s simple, he has just got to stop with his man.
“But the second half, I was disappointed.
“We haven’t got many players who have an edge on them. How many times did they leave a foot in and the referee didn’t do anything?
“We need one or two nasty people at times. That’s going to be the biggest problem in the next few months, getting the recruitment right.
“They’re all nice lads. I can’t fault them for being nice lads but you want a bit of nastiness in the team.
“You want people standing up to be counted but they’re not there. I can’t force that on them.”
Warnock, who was the only man in the visiting team to get booked, added: “We got bullied. I wouldn’t want to watch that every week, if I’m honest, but they played to their strengths and you have to match that.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a team that’s been bullied in my time but you can’t put into some players what they haven’t got.
“Believe it or not, most of those players would have tried, it just looks pathetic at times. Most of the lads were trying their hardest, they are just too nice.”
Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes felt there was more to his side’s dominance than the physical nature.
“I thought we were good at what we did,” McInnes said. “There is always an element in Scottish football where you have to stand up for yourself and be physical but we were more than that. I think it would be wrong for that to be the only talking point.
“I thought we settled on the ball, we fed our wide players time and again.
“We showed a lot of good attributes and being physical and standing up for yourself is always part of that.”
McInnes added: “We had 16 shots inside their box. For only two to go in means it was not the perfect afternoon.
“We passed up some good chances, but anytime a Kilmarnock team can beat Aberdeen 2-0, you have to take that.”
Late Palma strike sinks St Mirren as Celtic celebrate SPL triumph on final day
Luis Palma struck a late winner as champions Celtic twice came from behind to see off St Mirren 3-2 on the final day of the Scottish Premiership season.
It was a day of celebrations at Celtic Park for Brendan Rodgers' side, who wrapped up their third successive domestic title in midweek.
However, St Mirren threatened to spoil the party when Mark O'Hara fired them in front after just seven minutes.
Top scorer Matt O'Riley equalised for the hosts in the 21st minute, but they fell behind again just five minutes later when O'Hara doubled his tally from the penalty spot after Stephen Welsh fouled Toyosi Olusanya.
Kyogo Furuhashi levelled for Celtic before half-time, and the Hoops completed the turnaround with Palma scored the winner with four minutes remaining.
Rodgers' side finished eight points clear of second-place Rangers, who were held to a 3-3 draw by Hearts.
Despite falling behind to Lawrence Shankland's strike, goals from Ross McCausland, Todd Cantwell and Fabio Silva seemingly had the visitors on course for a comfortable win at Tynecastle.
However, there was to be a late twist with Dexter Lembikisa pulling a goal back in the 82nd minute, before Kyosuke Tagawa struck deep into stoppage time to rescue a point for the hosts.
There was also nothing to separate Dundee and Kilmarnock, who drew 1-1 in the other match on the final day.
Luke McCowan cancelled out Gary Mackay-Steven's earlier effort, though the Dundee captain squandered a glorious opportunity to complete the turnaround when he missed a penalty two minutes from time.
Al-Nassr 1-1 Al-Hilal: Mitrovic scores last-gasp penalty
Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a penalty in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time as Al-Hilal denied Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr victory in a 1-1 draw.
Mitrovic netted his 27th Saudi Pro League goal of the campaign after Sadio Mane was harshly judged to have fouled Saud Abdulhamid in the area.
Mane stuck out an arm to shield the ball, catching his opponent in the throat, though the contact appeared to have been outside of the box.
Mitrovic made no mistake to keep Al-Hilal's unbeaten campaign going.
The Serbian's spot-kick cancelled out Otavio's first-minute opener, with Ronaldo having set up his compatriot.
Champions Al-Hilal remain 12 points clear of Al-Nassr at the summit of the Pro League standings.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo the provider
Ronaldo leads the scoring charts in Saudi Arabia this season, though he had to settle for an assist on Friday.
That came from the only chance he created, with the 39-year-old limited to 25 touches, though he did have four shots.
Al-Ittihad pegged back as winless run rolls on
Mohamed Sherif scored late on as Al-Ittihad's winless run in the Saudi Pro League stretched to four games after a 1-1 draw with Al-Khaleej.
Al-Ittihad have endured a miserable title defence, and with just two games remaining, the highest the big-spending, PIF-backed club can finish is fourth.
Muhannad Al Shanqiti put them ahead on the stroke of half-time, yet despite having a further eight shots and accumulating 1.07 xG in the second half, Al-Ittihad could not add another.
Their profligacy proved costly in the 81st minute, with Egypt international Sherif snatching an equaliser for 11th-placed Al-Khaleej.
Al-Tai moved out of the relegation zone with a surprise 3-1 win over seventh-placed Al-Fateh, with Bernard Mensah scoring twice.
Al-Raed, meanwhile, claimed a 1-0 win at Al-Wehda.
Data Debrief: Kante the creator?
On the day he received a surprising France recall, N'Golo Kante created three chances for Al-Ittihad, leading the team.
On the flip side, Kante only attempted one tackle, with the midfielder showing a different side to his game, not that it proved fruitful for his team.
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