Stirling Albion star Darren Smith was not in the mood for making excuses after the Binos suffered their heaviest home defeat since 1998 at the hands of East Fife.

The former Motherwell forward admitted that he understands the fans' frustrations after they voiced their disappointment following last Saturday's 6-0 defeat, and insists that the squad are equally frustrated after the result left their season hanging by a thread.

Smith told Stirling News Sport: “It was a very difficult afternoon. We didn't perform and there are no excuses. It was unacceptable. I can't really explain what happened. We had a good week in training but we have just not shown up and we have been punished for that.

“When your team gets beaten by a large margin you have every right to be upset. But the fans need to know that we are doing the best that we can to get results when it comes, and hopefully we can put it right next week.”

Smith says it is vital the Binos do all they can to rectify the humiliating result when East Stirlingshire travel to Forthbank on Saturday, and he believes they must try to return to their pre-Christmas form which saw them lose just one game in twelve.

He said: “Before Christmas we were flying and doing so well. We have to work as hard as we can and do everything in our capabilities to get back to the performance level that we are capable of and that we have already shown. Only hard work and determination will get us there.

“We have to have another good week at training and make sure we prepare properly as we always do. It will take a lot of determination and we have to stick together as a team to make sure we go out there and do better.”

The 27-year-old admitted Albion's playoff hopes are now hanging by a thread, but he insists that no matter what happens it is crucial that the Binos bounce back and finish the season strongly over their final six games.

Smith added: “I think every game is a must-win game now and it has been like that for the past three or four weeks. You can make excuse after excuse all you want but performances haven't been as good as we are capable of and I think we are all very frustrated about that.

“We have six massive games left and our ambition is to go out there and make sure we win every single one of them. If that gets us into the playoffs then great, but if not then we will do our best to finish the season as strongly as we can.”