It would be a chilling statistic for any football manager, but the loss of 19 goals in their last five games over a period of less than two weeks will make horrific reading for Jimmy Calderwood and his team.

Aberdeen, reeling from a five-goal lesson from Bayern Munich in Thursday's UEFA Cup game in the Allianz Arena, swop the atmosphere created by 66,000 fans in such awesome surroundings for Rugby Park today and the bread-and-butter business of trying to claw their way back up the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

Calderwood recognised yesterday that Jim Jefferies and his Kilmarnock team, currently second bottom of the table, are now, like Aberdeen, desperate for victories with the league split just over the horizon.

Both clubs have been dogged by injuries to key first-team players and the transfer window did neither any favours as they lost personnel they would not have wished to see depart.

But Calderwood's mind has been occupied since the beginning of the season by the irksome problem that his defensive players are prone to the kind of errors that result in a higher than usual goals-against tally and the loss of much-needed points as they dropped to eighth place in the league.

With their European juggernaut having run out of gas, Aberdeen's hopes of another adventure next season rest on a big finish to their campaign, though Calderwood seems unable to fix the problem of slackness and lapses in concentration.

"Sometimes we're far too nice in defending," he said, "and players should fight harder to ensure that no opposition player beats them to the ball at set-pieces.

"It is a determination to make sure they are not going to lose the ball. There is no way your opponent is going to score and you have to do everything possible to stop him scoring without giving away a penalty.

"The defensive side of our game has haunted us all season," he said. "It started at the first game against Dundee United at Tannadice and it has never really left us.

"And it is not just one man. It's different individuals making the same stupid mistakes and the organisation at corners and free-kicks has been poor.

"I am not running away from my own responsibility. If I am marking someone at a free-kick and even if you are inches taller me, I make sure you don't get the ball, by hook or by crook, as long as the referee doesn't see it."

In short, they don't make footballers as tough as they were in his day and while he expressed sympathy for Jefferies, without so many players through injury, he reiterated an edict he stated a few days ago; that only victories will mean anything from now until April.

"We know what we've got to do if we want to get back to enjoying the kind of games we played in Europe against six very good teams." he added.

"We have to be third or fourth in the league and we have just seven games to achieve that. At the moment we're making life difficult for ourselves in trying to get into the top six, never mind third or fourth, so we have to start winning games quickly.

"Kilmarnock have lost their two big goalscorers in Kris Boyd and Steven Naismith. You're talking 50 goals between those boys.

"It's hard to sell players like that and not get the money to replace them. But there are a lot of experienced players at Rugby Park and they'll be hurting and they'll want our scalp.

"With the quality they have, they are going to start winning sooner rather than later. We lost Russell Anderson at the start of the season and I don't think we'd be shipping in the goals we have lost if he was still with us."

Midfielder Barry Nicholson says his team will need to show the same spirit and determination they showed in Munich if they are to rectify their league form.

"It was a great experience for the team and we now have to build on it to get three points on Sunday," said Nicholson, whose was backed by team-mate Zander Diamond: "Our season starts now, but it is going to be a tough game because they will be looking for points as well."

Jamie Smith, Derek Young and Jackie McNamara, who were left out of the travelling party to Munich because of injury, are unavailable today as Calderwood tries to pick up the pieces after the tribulations of Munich where the physical presence and athleticism of those in the German side, was palpable.

"The Scots are not a tall race," he said, "and that goes against us. The physical presence of the top European teams is frightening and we have to learn as a nation to combat that."

For the time being, Calderwood's thought will focus on the frailties which have reared their ugly head all too often in his defence this season and hope that Kilmarnock's stuttering form remains as it has been lately.