Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Loss against Jambos won’t break our hearts says striker Watt
TANGERINES attacker Tony Watt insists they will notcry about their 3-2 defeat by Hearts.
But the Tannadice marksman is acutely aware a vast improvement is required for a “critical” contest against Motherwell.
United started brightly against the Jambos, claiming the lead through Dylan Levitt.
But they threw away that advantage and succumbed to a disappointing reverse.
While the Tangerines remain in fourth place in the Premiership and firmly in the race to secure Europa Conference League qualification, they have won just three of their last 20 league matches.
“We are slapping ourselves on the back of the head,” said a frustrated Watt.
“It is about assessing what went wrong before the Motherwell game, because that is a critical game.
“Self-reflection is the main thing. I can see what I have done wrong, what I can do better – and then, what more we can do as a team.
“We are not going to cry about (the defeat). We got beat by a good Hearts team. They are third in the league and are in the Scottish Cup final.
“We want to get closer to them, but we still have a bit to go.”
Given United exploded from the blocks – creating two excellent chances before Levitt struck home on four minutes – their subsequent lack of control of the contest was mystifying.
Asked whether he could put his finger on what went wrong, Watt said: “I don’t know. I am not the manager. He’ll have to assess that. We go out and try to carry out the gameplan, get the head down and work hard.
“There isn’t much I can say. I don’t really want to say too much in the heat of the moment. But we need to do better.”
United have made an alarming habit of surrendering leads.
Tam Courts’ charges have dropped an astonishing 16 points from winning positions in their last eight Premiership outings – more than twice as many as any other team in the league over the same period.
“That is a big problem for us,” acknowledged Watt.
“We’ve had chances to score more and we could tighten up when we lose possession.
“We need to sort things out. But you don’t defend as a five or a six.
“You defend as a full team; an 11.”
Scanning the horizon for a silver lining, United can take solace from the fact both Ross County and Motherwell failed to pick up points at the weekend – albeit they did tick off testing clashes against the Old Firm.
“We can’t think about them,” added Watt.
“We can only look at ourselves.
“The Hearts defeat is still fresh in the mind. We need to get that out of the system and go again.”
DUNDEE United defender Ross Graham has been shortlisted for the Scottish Football Writers’ Scottish SPFL Young Player of the Year award.
Also nominated are Josh Doig (Hibs), Calvin Ramsay (Aberdeen), Nathan Patterson (Rangers/ Everton) and Stephen Welsh (Celtic).