Adelaide United have got the balance of its squad wrong as the A-League Men club wrestles with the fall-out of their dramatic slide, coach Carl Veart says.
The Reds, with seven losses from their past eight games, have tumbled to second-last on the ladder ahead of Friday night's away fixture against Newcastle Jets.
Veart concedes his squad is imbalanced with a lack of a middle core to support younger and older players.
"When we look at the squad we have got at the moment, we have got the balance wrong, I have to admit that," Veart told reporters on Thursday.
"We have got too many young players and too many senior players and not that middle group to help breach from the young to the old.
"And it's something we have got to get right for next season."
Veart said he was already plotting how to revive the Reds' next campaign.
"We have still stayed true to who we are as a club in developing our younger players," he said.
"And when we look back over the course of the season ... we just haven't got enough out of our younger players and we haven't got enough out of our senior players - it's right across the whole playing group.
"It's something we have been quite reflective on.
"We have got quite a few players not contracted past this season.
"And we're in the space at this time where we're talking to players not just at our club but across the league and some foreign players as well."
But Veart was adamant the short-term pain would result in some long-term gain.
"You always get to see your true self when you go through the tough periods," he said.
"It makes you stronger. Our playing group will become stronger out the other side of this, same as the coaching staff.
"And we just have to keep our belief in what we do because we know when we get it right we will have success.
"It's just the way it goes sometimes in football.
"We're not making excuses - we're not in the position we want to be in, our expectations were a lot higher than this."
