JACK ROSS was pleased with the performance of his Dumbarton players – despite seeing them lose by four goals for the second weekend in a row.

Just seven days after losing 5-1 at home to Morton, promotion hopefuls Dunfermline ensured Ross' time as interim Sons boss would end on a low note as they clinched a 4-0 win at East End Park, with keeper Stephen Grindlay being shown red.

After their latest defeat the Sons are now seven points adrift at the bottom of the table. Ross will now step back into an assistant manager position alongside new gaffer Ian Murray and admits individual errors again proved costly.

He said: "We lost by four goals last week and we lost by four goals this week against teams who are at the top of the league. For us there is a huge difference in performance and application.

"I was proud of them but after the sending off I thought we did really well at a difficult venue against a good team.

"We looked very comfortable for the first half hour but individual mistakes have been a problem for us, especially when you go up a level.

"I have said often enough. These players are very receptive; they have a desire to go and do well so that they can stay in this league.

"We cannot look for a reaction because that has always been there from them.

"What we wanted was a reaction performance wise from last week and we certainly did that. We lost by the same number of goals but there was a big difference in terms of performance."