Dundee United missed out on the chance to return to Hampden as they crashed to a Premier Sports Cup defeat at home to Hibernian.
United also suffered a double injury blow with both Charlie Mulgrew and Marc McNulty forced off.
But United – who reached Hampden for the Scottish Cup semi-final last year – will draw some positives from the Hibs loss.
Courier Sport was at Tannadice on Thursday and here are three things we learned:
Mulgrew is key player for Dundee United
Charlie Mulgrew has been an impressive signing for Dundee United.
At 35, some wondered if the former Celtic and Scotland star would still have the legs to cope with the demands of the often frantic-paced Scottish Premiership.
But he has been outstanding for United all season.
With two stunning interventions in Dundee United’s ‘Beautiful Sunday’ derby win, Mulgrew proved his worth.
That’s why his 17th minute injury in the defeat to Hibernian was such a blow.
His replacement, Mark Reynolds, is a very capable and experienced defender.
But United desperately missed the calming influence of Mulgrew and his solid partnership with Ryan Edwards.
Dundee United have talent in reserve
Tam Courts will have to regularly rotate his squad this year, particularly as the injuries begin to pile up.
They have already lost the likes of Logan Chalmers, Liam Smith and Benjamin Siegrist to injury and Mulgrew and Marc McNulty could be next on the treatment table.
But when one door closes, another one opens and it’s down to the fringe players to grab their opportunities.
Trevor Carson racked up three clean sheets in four games before the 3-1 loss to Hibernian.
Kieran Freeman suffered horrendous injury issues as a youngster.
But he is a cool and composed player who can solve their right wing-back crisis.
Freeman impressed as a sub in the derby win and was one of United’s best performers against Hibernian.
His run and pass for Peter Pawlett’s goal was sublime and he can be proud of his efforts.
Spirited second-half fightback can be springboard ahead of Celtic trip
🟠 @dundeeunitedfc are still fighting!
Fantastic flick and finish from Peter Pawlett after a great team move 👏 pic.twitter.com/m9Q1mYVRsP
— Premier Sports (@PremierSportsTV) September 23, 2021
The last thing United needed before a trip to Celtic on Sunday was a heavy defeat.
At 3-0 down, this threatened to turn embarrassing for Tam Courts men.
But whatever he said at half-time did the trick as United restored their pride and dominated the second period.
🟠 @dundeeunitedfc's Thomas Courts on his side's quarter-final loss to Hibernian
🗣️ "I think we controlled large parts of the game and there's a couple of key decisions that have went against us tonight." pic.twitter.com/RhZuweEl6q
— Premier Sports (@PremierSportsTV) September 23, 2021
Their night was cursed by injury and two dodgy calls by Willie Collum.
Hibernian shouldn’t have had a penalty for Reynolds’ ‘foul’ on Paul McGinn.
And Pawlett wrongly had a second half strike ruled out. Had decisions gone their way, it could have been a different story.
