Brown felt the performance was the worst since he and Archie Knox joined

Craig Brown slammed his Aberdeen players for a sloppy performance against 10-man Inverness, a match they nevertheless won 2-0.

"The victory was pleasing because of the three points but I've got to be honest and say that was the only good thing about it," he said.

"It was the poorest performance since Archie and I have come to Aberdeen.

"We should have been able, with an extra player, to make it count more comfortably. It was embarrassing."

Brown and his assistant Archie Knox have transformed the club's Scottish Premier League fortunes since taking over from Mark McGhee in December, steering them to wins over Hibs, Hamilton, St Mirren and Inverness.

However, on Saturday they lost 1-0 at Celtic, that league game the first in a trio against the Glasgow side. On Saturday they play Neil Lennon's men in the semi-final of the Co-operative Insurance Cup then three days later contest an SPL game at Pittodrie.

We'll have a new player in for next week for the game on Tuesday against Celtic Aberdeen manager Craig Brown says an English Premier League player is on his way to Pittodrie

"We couldn't compete with Celtic playing like that. It was embarrassing, the decision-making errors of our players.

"We were very disappointed in our performance and I am quite sure that, if Inverness had not been reduced to 10 and had we had not got two very good goals, we really could have struggled because we did not play at all well.

"We must urgently improve. Very few got pass marks.

"They are honest boys. I told our players that I could not believe the lack of quality in their play and the heads were nodding."

Inverness defender Grant Munro was sent off for an off-the-ball incident with Dons striker Chris Maguire before 20 minutes had elapsed.

But Aberdeen struggled to impose their authority on the match and would have headed up the tunnel at half-time goalless had it not been for an exquisite strike by 18-year-old Ryan Jack.

"We had seven players on the team-sheet under 21," said Brown.

"Ryan is one of them and he scored a fantastic goal. He is a young boy with a great future because he is a modest, hard-working young player, always wanting to learn, and that is to his credit."

Brown also praised new signing from Fulham Rob Milsom, describing his contribution as "outstanding", albeit blighted on occasion by some poor decision-making, according to his manager.

Another recent signing, loan player Nick Blackman, added the Dons' second goal after the restart to make the second half slightly more relaxed for the visitors, and Brown says he is confident that there will be a further addition to the Reds squad at the weekend.

The veteran boss, who indicated that the player was currently with a Premier League side, said: "We'll have a new player in for next week for the game on Tuesday against Celtic.

"He is playing in the FA Cup for a very good team on Saturday and on Sunday I've got assurances from him and his manager that he will be joining us for a loan period."

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