Dundee manager James McPake felt his team deserved to win the derby, while Dundee United boss Robbie Neilson was happy with a point.
The Tangerines opened the scoring after five minutes through Nicky Clark before Graham Dorrans levelled for the visitors on 50 minutes.
Such is United’s position of strength at the top of the Championship – they are 14 points clear of second-placed Inverness – that Neilson was satisfied despite this being his team’s flattest derby display of the three by some distance.
On the other hand, the Dens men thought they should have left Tannadice with all three points, especially after having the better of the second half.
McPake said: “It is a dressing room that is disappointed.
“There is a real belief we should have won.
“Performance-wise it is night and day from previous derbies but we should have won all three points.
“Look, it was important to show to our fans that we can turn up and dig in.
“Some of the stuff we played in the second half, in particular, was excellent.
“I might look over it and say: ‘You know what, a point after going behind so early is good.’
“But there is just real disappointment over how superior we were in the second half and that we did not get the win.”
McPake was at pains to stress that he accepts United deserve to be where they are in the league but that didn’t ease his frustration.
He added: “United are a good team.
“They are where they are for a reason and it’s because they are consistently the best team in this league.
“They are 17 points clear of us and credit to them but we showed something tonight.”
As for Neilson, he was as relaxed as ever when he reflected on the game.
The United boss said: “I thought it was a typical derby.
“We got caught up in the derby atmosphere – you kick it, we kick it, all set-plays.
“The ball needed changed at half-time because it was so badly bruised!
“Dundee probably had a bit more possession in the second half but we are sitting in a position where a draw is a decent point while they were desperate to get the win and get up the league.
“So it is another step forward and another point on the board.
“We are in a really good position in the league. In fact, we are delighted with where we are.
“Now we have to concentrate on building on this.”
United replaced scorer Clark after he suffered a tight hamstring but Neilson is confident he will be OK.
