Brown came down from the stand to offer advice during the heavy loss

Aberdeen coach Neil Cooper is predicting a bright Pittodrie future for new manager Craig Brown despite a 5-0 thrashing at Hearts.

Brown and his assistant Archie Knox watched as the Dons tumbled to the bottom of the Scottish Premier League after a seventh consecutive defeat.

"Confidence is a big thing in football and it is low at the moment," Cooper told BBC Radio Scotland.

"But things will definitely improve in the coming weeks."

Aberdeen were 2-0 down after nine minutes, with David Templeton and Rudi Skacel taking advantage of a porous defence.

Skacel added to his tally in the second half, either side of goals from Stephen Elliott and Arvydas Novikovas.

"We were a bit fragile at the back," conceded Cooper, who was charged with taking the team, along with fellow coach Neil Simpson.

"I don't think there were five goals in it, although we could have lost another two or three.

"The players worked really hard and Craig and Archie have seen enough to work with and build on. I can't fault them for effort, we just need to show more character.

"The players were first class in training but training is training. You are judged on the 90 minutes and we came up a bit short."

Having conceded 21 goals in their last six matches, it was no surprise to hear Cooper say that Brown and Knox would need to pay close attention to Aberdeen's defence.

"We need to start from the back and get nice and solid," added the beleaguered coach.

"If we can do that, then we'll be in a position to start winning football matches."

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