WANDERERS’ poor start to the season came as a bolt from the blue for Tim Ream – but the American defender was willing to shoulder his part of the blame for the latest defeat at Brighton.

Last season’s player of the year held up his hands for what he termed some “bad decision making” in the build-up to Craig Mackail-Smith’s equaliser at the Amex Stadium.

But Ream was at more of a loss to explain a wretched start that has seen the Whites take just one point from their first four games and throw away a lead in three consecutive Championship games.

“Nobody expected this – whether what happened at the start of last season is in the back of everyone’s minds or not, I don’t know,” he said, referring to the 10-game winless run 12 months ago.

“I don’t think you can pin-point one thing. I don’t think the performances have necessarily been bad, going up a goal in the last couple of games shows that we’re starting games better.

“But at the end of the day it’s about picking up points and we’re not doing that any more.

“It’s the decision making, and we’re all guilty of it including myself for the first goal.

“For whatever reason before half time we were getting ahead of ourselves, getting too excited, and we did the same on Tuesday night.

“We need to get rid of those bad decisions at the back. That’s one part of the problem but hopefully it’s the start of not giving up leads.”

Many fans have turned their anger towards the club’s management and Ream admits he has picked up on the negative vibes on the pitch.

But the defender does not blame fans for expecting much more than they have been given so far.

“We don’t want to lose,” he said. “We’re not making bad decisions on purpose.

“For the fans it’s only natural that they are frustrated, and we are too.

“They pay good money to watch these games and travel all this way so they have every right to be upset with us. We’re all one club and trying to do well, we won’t throw in the towel.

“I say it as a player but getting stick is part of the job – you know you’ll get stick.

“The manager will get it at times like this but we are really knuckling down and it’s not coming off for us at the moment.

“It’s down to us to change that. You create your own luck and form your own destiny.”