Managers post Dundee United

Link to audio of both managers post match comments

Pars boss Stevie Crawford admitted that he was very disappointed with his side’s first half performance.

“Dundee United have come down with their game plan today and for as much as I have said we are trying to play in a certain manner, we did not press the game well enough today in the first half and it caused us problems.

“We didn’t get to the ball quick enough, we didn’t put them under enough pressure so we weren’t then able to try and cause them problems. We found ourselves two goals down and that point you don’t want to then try to close the game up. You have to try and keep yourself in it.

“It became a little bit open and we changed it a little bit at half time. We brought Kyle Turner on and we had a couple of chances early in the second half that could have got us back into the game, unfortunately we never took them.”

Everyone knows the threat that Lawrence Shankland provides but he scored two goals within the first thirty minutes.

“He hits the target with his first one. A lot of players try and hit corners or whatever but he got a good connection on it. We are disappointed with it but as I say we are disappointed with the first half - I don’t want to be too critical of them because they have put a lot of energy and commitment into games but we also have to learn from them.

“I don’t think it was anything to do with the Celtic game last week, it was a totally different game and I don’t think we got carried away with ourselves. We knew that it was going to be different. The one thing that did happen was Dundee United came down here and were very aggressive with us. We didn’t cope with it well enough.

“There was a response in the second half. I don`t want to get too carried away and look silly. We were better in the second half albeit United still had a couple of chances. Is it stuff that we have played earlier in the season? No, you are playing against a very good Dundee United side. They are a quality side and you only need to look at the quality that they had on the bench as well.

“That is what we were up against today. I felt that it wasn’t a lack of effort, it was just United were sharper, more aggressive in the first half.

“We are a team that is trying to develop. Sometimes it is not just about what you do on the ball, you have to try and take something from that.”

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