Dundee boss Paul Hartley says his players were running on empty against Ross County because of the amount of effort they had put into the League Cup derby at Tannadice three days earlier.
The Dark Blues had Martin Boyle sent off after just 26 minutes of the game with United, and Hartley’s men battled bravely before finally succumbing to a stoppage-time goal by Jarek Fojut.
Those efforts took their toll when they travelled to the Highlands on Saturday with another late counter consigning Dundee to their third defeat in the space of a week.
However, Hartley is certain that his players will have recharged their batteries and be raring to go once again when they play Aberdeen at Dens this weekend.
He said: “Wednesday night just took everything out of us. To play for 60 odd minutes with just 10 men in a game as intense as that definitely affected us on Saturday.
“But I know we have a good squad of players and we just have to get back to a working week to play against a good Aberdeen team.”
Hartley certainly did not have his troubles to seek defensively against County.
With Thomas Konrad suspended, his obvious replacement was expected to be Iain Davidson.
However, he was a late call-off because of a foot injury meaning the manager had to rejig his back four, with Gary Irvine moving to centre-half and midfielder Jim McAlister slotting in at full-back.
McAlister then had to leave the field after suffering a head knock, while James McPake was also struggling.
However, Hartley is hoping that his defence will be back to more familiar lines for the visit of the Dons.
He said: “Davidson is still struggling with his toe problem. We thought he would be OK for Ross County after we gave him a fitness test on Friday so we had to rejig our back four which wasn’t ideal.
“So we had to go with the squad we had and just get on with it. You try to pick the team that you think can win the game.
“McPake was also struggling but he played through it.
“Jim McAlister took a knock and he probably needs two or three days off but he should be fine for the weekend. He wasn’t knocked out or anything so he should be OK.
“Willie Dyer is back training and Kevin Thomson is getting there. We will also have players like Thomas Konrad back this week.”
Recent Dundee signing Dylan Carreiro, who is currently on loan at Arbroath, received a call-up to the full Canadian international squad earlier this week for a friendly against Australia.
And Hartley admitted he is delighted for the 19-year-old.
He said: “It is brilliant for him. He is away for the next couple of weeks.
“It is pleasing that his form has been good at Arbroath. He just needs some experience and to get used to Scottish football.”