Mark Durnan insists Dundee United still believe they can catch Hibs despite their hammering at Easter Road.
The Hibees moved four points clear at the top of the Championship after what was a bit of a Friday night horror show for the Tangerines, crahsing as they did to a 3-0 defeat.
With Neil Lennon’s men also boasting a goal difference that is 14 better off than that of the Tannadice team, the gap is, realistically, five points.
To close it will be a daunting task for United but they have come from further behind already this season and Durnan insists they are not throwing in the towel.
The central defender said: “It is four points but there are still 16 league games left in the season.
“We will keep going and we will see where we are come May.
“We have seen how quickly the league pendulum can swing with a couple of wins and losses.
“So we will keep putting pressure on Hibs.
“There is still a long way to go.”
That may be so but United will have to improve dramatically on their performance in Leith if they are to stay with Hibs, who were by far the better team on the night.
There was one bright spot amid the gloom for the Tangerines, with Thomas Mikkelsen – the new loan striker signed from Danish side Odense – getting the last 15 minutes to give him valuable game time.
However, that was about it as far as the good news went.
Durnan admitted: “We weren’t good enough.
“We did not keep the ball and we gave them chances.
“We gave away cheap goals and when you do that you make it difficult for yourselves.
“That is certainly what we did.
“The manner of defeat does hurt as we feel that we did not create many opportunities and the three goals we conceded were very poor.
“It does not matter what team you are, whether you are top or bottom of the league, you should not be conceding soft goals like that.”
Durnan sat alongside his teammates in the easte rRoad dressing room as they were given a few choice words by manager Ray McKinnon after the loss.
Now he and the rest of the squad will have to up their game for Saturday’s visit of Queen of the South to Tannadice because more dropped points are not really an option.
Durnan said: “The manager was not shy in letting us know his thoughts after the game.
“I don’t know if it was one of those occasions where we just let ourselves down.
“We have been pretty solid as of late and we have not been conceding many goals so we are very disappointed.
“We know we have to react next Saturday in our next match and we have to bounce back.
“In this league it has been proven that you can beat anybody on your day.
“We just have to put it behind us as the game is done and we have to move forward.”
