Dundee United manager Micky Mellon wished his players had displayed more self-belief at Celtic Park.
The Tangerines lost 3-0 to the Hoops yesterday and never quite got a foothold in the game, albeit they did create some chances.
Mellon, who now takes his troops to Aberdeen on Saturday, said: “I was disappointed about the belief in the first half.
“There wasn’t enough of it and that surprised me.
“I think we could have shown more.
“The ball was getting into the final third but we didn’t have people laying a glove on the opposition.
“You have to be able to do that at places like Celtic,” added Mellon.
“When we got possession back we had to be better with the ball.
“We came out in the second half and showed a wee bit more and created two fantastic chances for Nicky Clark and Marc McNulty.
“If you are going to get anything from a place like Celtic Park you have to take them.
“You have to have a winning instinct to come here and do well then believe you can do better.
“We should aim, when we come to places like this, to be more of a problem for teams like Celtic.”
The United gaffer felt they should have had a penalty for a Celtic handball against defender Christopher Jullien.
He said: “My gut instinct right away was that it was a handball.
“You saw the reaction of all the players at the same time.
“They believed the same as me.
“I was certainly surprised it never went our way.”
Hoops gaffer Neil Lennon, meanwhile, immediately looked ahead to Saturday’s Old Firm clash with Rangers.
He said: “It sets us up very nicely for the weekend.
“Ismaila (Soro) played very well and the goal’s a bonus. I’m just pleased with the way he’s handling the game at the minute and his use of the ball.
“His passing is very crisp and clean and he’s played very well since he came into the team.
“As has David Turnbull, another goal from him today.”
The Parkhead men lost Jullien to injury after he cleared Clark’s effort off the line and collided with the post.
Lennon added: “All round, it’s been a good day, apart from losing Christopher, so we’ll need to see how he is.
“He’s impacted the knee on the post, it’s quite a heavy one.
“At the moment there’s a bit of swelling there, but just now I’m not ruling him out or in.”