UNITED CAPITULATION LEAVES MIXU STUNNED

DESPAIRING Dundee United manager Mixu Paatelainen last night admitted he was left stunned by his team’s lack of urgency as they plunged a step closer to relegation. The Tannadice boss, who insisted that the fight to stay in the Premiership is not yet over, saw Stephen McManus’ goal and a Scott McDonald double inflict a heavy defeat which now leaves United 13 points adrift of nearest rivals Kilmarnock at the foot of the table. Paatelainen was at a loss to explain how his players produced such a meek display with so much at stake — Motherwell had been second-bottom before kick-off last night and a home win would

have reduced the gap to nine points — in front of their own fans. ‘It’s not good enough — simple as that,’ said the Finn. ‘That’s the bottom line. We were too flat. ‘There wasn’t enough urgency or quality. I was surprised by the lack of urgency, to be honest. ‘We did realise that and highlighted it to the players that this was it. ‘So that does worry me, big time. It’s something we need to speak about. ‘Maybe one or two players can’t handle it. Maybe they start panicking. ‘All our preparation since last Saturday was speaking about the importance of this game. This was a great opportunity but we’ve missed it. ‘It’s not over yet, though. We don’t give up. We just keep our heads up and concentrate on getting ready for Saturday’s game with Hearts. ‘It will be difficult. It’s a long road for sure. ‘I don’t think it was a 3-0 kind of game. It’s two setpiece goals we’ve lost. ‘But we were flat-footed and it was poor marking. That’s been the story of our season. ‘The two chances we had with John Rankin and Blair Spittal, you simply need to score them. ‘They know themselves that’s not the performance we were looking for. That was unacceptable.’ Jubilant Motherwell manager Mark McGhee admitted it was the result that mattered more than the performance last night. ‘It would get football stopped,’ he said of the contest. ‘It was horrible. ‘But we’ve watched the way they’ve been playing against other teams recently and it has been quite effective. ‘So we came here really determined that, at worst, we would match them and that we weren’t going to be outplayed. ‘We reduced it to what you saw on the night and fortunately we were a bit better at it. ‘For the first time in a few weeks, the boys really showed up. ‘It’s a massive result overall for us.’