Dundee United midfielder Nick van der Velden has given a brutally frank assessment of the club’s cup failure.
The Tangerines were knocked out of the Betfred Cup at the quarter-final stage by fellow Championship side Morton at Cappielow on Tuesday night.
Manager Ray McKinnon made it clear he had given his players an earful in the dressing-room after the 2-1 defeat and that was confirmed by the Dutchman.
Van der Velden also added his own unique take on a loss that meant United missed out on some much-needed money as well as a semi-final day out at Hampden for the supporters and players.
He said: “We did not do well and we recognise that.
“Actually, words fail me…
“I have never seen the manager so mad in the dressing room.
‘We just didn’t perform and played very badly,
“It is a hugely disappointing result for the club.
“The Dundee United fans turned up in good numbers and we gave them a s*** match.
“This is up there with my biggest career disappointments as this was chance for United to get to Hampden.
“I have never played there and I was desperate to go there and play at the national stadium,” added Van der Velden, who scored United’s goal against Ton and was their best player on the night.
“I’m bitterly disappointed and the rest of the players are but we have to bring more to these kind of situations.
“When you can’t play good football, you need the power and the will to win.
“There was nothing there against Morton and that quality was sadly lacking.
“We just did not have the spirit that we had before.
“It is not a concern but we need to change our mindset and switch on.”
Van der Velden insisted the lethargy can be shaken off in time for the home league match against the Greenock men on Saturday.
He added: “We need to talk about this defeat and get it out of our system and never let it happen again.
“We have to fight for everything now.
“The performance was a surprise to me as I know how good we are and we have shown that this season in a lot of games.
“I don’t know what happened against Morton.
“They got two chances and scored two goals – one from a set-piece.
“We have to do better.
“I thought at 2-1 we had a chance to make it 2-2 but that was it.
“We did not put crosses from wide positions into the box.
“That is what we discussed in the dressing room after the match.
“That is how you create chances and we did not do that.”
Meanwhile, former United defender Gavin Gunning took time out from celebrating Morton’s march into the last four to moan about the United fans’ reaction to him on Tuesday.
Gunning said: “It was great to be out there and it was great to get the win.
“It’s never nice playing against one of your former clubs but the fans didn’t give me much respect even although I played there for five seasons.
“The fans obviously don’t know the full story of what happened when I left United.
“But at the end of the day I’m at Morton now and I’m here to do a good job and that’s two wins now so I’m happy with that.
“I can’t go into the reasons why I left because I signed an agreement at that time.
“I got a bit of stick, but who cares? We won the match so I’m happy enough.”
