The dressing room door remained firmly shut long after the full time whistle as the manager and his players tried to come to terms with the heavy defeat. There was no attempt to conjure up an excuse and the frank admission, "they were very, very good, we were very, very poor" from Stuart McCall was fair and accurate. He said that we were second best in every department, that the team was hurting but by 3 o'clock next Saturday we would be ready.
There was also an acknowledgement that "they have had our measure this year". Time and time again United flew at us from their own half of the pitch. They attacked with speed and accuracy. Passes, long and short, found their targets and we were overwhelmed. Our only tactic seemed to be a series of long balls aimed at Anier or Sutton but that proved to be ineffective. As the first half entered the last five minutes it seemed possible that we might have a chance to regroup at half time but the loss of the second forced a major reshuffle.
The double switch at the start of the second period failed to stem the flood although for a brief spell it looked like we might be able to get back into the game. Both Lasley and Ainsworth had good opportunities well inside the box but neither could keep the ball on target. Our faint hopes disappeared on the hour and it was all downhill from there on. Since our 2-2 draw with United in September they have beaten us three times (4-0, 3-1 and 5-1). There will be some relief that we won't meet them again this season.
The focus now has to be on the final three games. St Johnstone and Inverness at home next Saturday and the following Wednesday before the trip to Pittodrie. McCall repeated his view that we will need to win our last three games if we are to regain second place but after the humbling at Tannadice a more realistic expectation would be to consolidate third.
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