Not acceptable!

The Athletic assistant admitted the result was unacceptable and hopes to see a bounce back in the weekend’s fixture away to St Mirren.

Bell said: “When you get beat 6-1 it’s always tough to take. Ayr United were very good, they moved the ball really well.

“But I felt in the first half, after the first five minutes, I thought we had the better of it for 20 minutes. We should’ve went 1-0 up.”

New loan striker Zander Craik almost scored the opener just eight minutes into his Annan career. His miss was quickly punished as Ayr went in at the break two goals to the good.

A disastrous start to the second half from the hosts saw the Championship visitors score twice in two minutes before adding a fifth on the hour mark. Aidan Smith netted a consolation for Athletic as the home side kept at it.

But an impressive Ayr team fired home a sixth in the closing stages.

Bell added: “I thought Ayr’s fitness really showed tonight. The level between part-time and full-time, there is a jump.

“We had a lot of young players out there. They’re finding their way at this level.

“Our captain (Tommy Muir) wasn’t fully fit, he’s been ill and climbed out his bed to play and that just sums him up as a person.

“We need to look at the game as a learning curve. We need to be better at stopping crosses, we need to be better at closing the lines and we need to also have a bit more aggression about us.

“One thing I would say is I don’t think the boys gave up, and that was pleasing.

“It’s still not acceptable getting beat 6-1. Players and the management team, myself included, need to take responsibility for that. But we can’t sit on it. We’ve got another game on Saturday against a Premier League team and we need to bounce back.”

Annan face St Mirren at the SMiSA Stadium in Paisley on Saturday July 19.