Dundee United striker Steven Fletcher has cautioned against sleepwalking towards relegation after the Tangerines crashed out of the Scottish Cup against Kilmarnock.
The Terrors’ cup dream fizzled out courtesy of a Kyle Vassell header, meaning United will turn their sole attention to securing Premiership survival.
Liam Fox’s men are currently bottom of the league, albeit only by virtue of a worse goal difference than Motherwell.
Ross County and Killie are one and three points ahead, respectively, but United boast a game in hand over both of those dogfight rivals.
I sound like a broken record. Something just isn’t clicking right now.
Steven Fletcher
But Fletcher, who has relegations with Burnley and Sunderland on his CV, knows that assuming the Tannadice outfit will escape is a dangerous mentality — and campaigns can quickly spiral.
He is determined not to let it happen at United.
“The pressure does grow and it can get away from you,” said Fletcher. “You don’t want that to happen. You want to start picking up results now.
“The season can go on and then suddenly you look with a couple of games left, and you’re still in this position. We don’t want that to happen.
“You can’t let your career pass you by. This is the moment we’re in just now. We’re in this position because of how we’re playing and we need to get out of that.
“We’re sticking together. It’s a tough period and I’ve been through it a few times in my career. I’ve been relegated a few times. We just need to stick together and keep working hard on the training ground.”
A broken record
United struck the bar twice in the second period through Liam Smith and Aziz Behich.
However, they were largely uninspired and ponderous in the final third, limping to a fifth defeat in their last seven matches.
📽️ @dundeeunitedfc v @KilmarnockFC
A Kyle Vassell goal was the the difference between Dundee United and Kilmarnock yesterday, as the away side sealed their place in the Quarter-Finals. #ScottishCup pic.twitter.com/2qPHhdnvqS
— Scottish Cup (@ScottishCup) February 12, 2023
“I think you can see we are trying to do the right things and play the way the manager wants,” continued Fletcher. “We believe it’s the right way to play.
“It’s just the final third; we need to be a lot better.
“We are getting into spaces in the final third and it is literally five or six seconds — and we’re back defending again. It’s not good enough.
“f you don’t create chances, you don’t score — and if you don’t score, you don’t win games.”
He added: “I sound like a broken record. Something just isn’t clicking right now. We’re trying the right things and it’s just not coming for us, which is disappointing.”
“It would be nice”
Meanwhile, Fletcher addressed his lack of senior back-up following Tony Watt’s deadline day loan move to St Mirren and the club’s failure to sign a front-man.
Rory MacLeod, 17, and untested Ugandan Sadat Anaku entered the fray on Saturday as the Tangerines chased the game.
“I want to play every minute I can anyway — if another striker came in, I wouldn’t want him to play,” smiled Fletcher.
“No, obviously it would be a nice help to have, but we have a few young boys. Wee Rory (MacLeod) is working hard in training. If I can help him and bring him on, he can prove to the gaffer he’s worth a start.
“We’ve got Sadat as well. He’s a great talent.
“We do have a good group of young strikers here so hopefully I can help them.”
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