AYR United boss Scott Brown said his side lacked a "spark" as they were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Ross County.
Chances were few and far between as The Honest Men looked to strengthen their Scottish Championship play-off position against the league's bottom side.
The visitors rarely tested Max Thompson in the home goal and it was the hosts who twice went closest in the second half.
Kevin Holt crashed a header off the crossbar while Nick McAllister saw his own headed effort cleared off the line - but it wasn't enough as the match ended in a stalemate and the points were shared.
“The lads always work hard, they are well organised," Brown told Ayr United TV. "I thought the defence dealt with their threat really well.
“It’s the most physical side in this league and it’s probably the strongest team they could put out, as in size-wise.
“They didn’t cause us that many problems. Corners, set plays, I thought we were really good.
“We knew they were going to be a back five, throughout the game we dealt with it really well.”
Though for all their defensive strengths, the Somerset boss said his side lacked creativity at the other end of the pitch.
Brown added: “I’m disappointed in the final third. I thought we had periods of possession that we played some good stuff.
“We got to the final third and we just didn’t have that spark today. We didn’t have that creativity, that short, sharp, link up play.
“We managed to get a couple of the lads that have a bit more creativity on the park later on and it just didn’t really work.
“Did we do enough to win the game? Probably not, overall. Most of the play was played out wide, crosses into the box. I think we have to be a little bit cuter than that.”
An important week lies ahead for Ayr now with the South Ayrshire outfit back in action on Tuesday, February 24 as they host Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the Challenge Cup semi-final.
Then, on Saturday, February 28, they travel to face Scottish Championship leaders St Johnstone.
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