Dundee defender James McPake believes his team had thrown the Aberdeen match away before the half-time whistle sounded.
The Dons left Dens Park with three points on Saturday thanks largely to a dominant display before that break that yielded goals from Niall McGinn and Adam Rooney.
The Dark Blues did a bit better in the second period but McPake feels that by then it was game over.
He said: “We are disappointed because we didn’t start the game at all.
“We probably lost that match in the first half.
“I think the damage was done then and had we been a bit better it would have been a closer game.
“We were as poor as we have been as a team.”
The Dons’ midfielders, led by the excellent man-of-the-match Willo Flood, were dynamic but that didn’t come as a shock to McPake.
Asked if the high tempo of Aberdeen’s play perhaps took the hosts by surprise, he replied: “No because we have played them before and know they are a very good team.
“They have players who can really hurt you if you give them time and space, and allow them to get into dangerous positions.
“So we weren’t surprised by them.”
The weather was dreadful but the Dens pitch, expertly prepared by head groundsman Brian Robertson and his team, held up superbly well.
McPake said: “The conditions did play a part but it’s not an excuse because it was the same for Aberdeen as it was for us.
“I don’t think you can say they adapted better to them than we did because it wasn’t about that.
“The conditions made for what was a poor game all round but I don’t think you can blame them in any way for the result.
“To be fair to the groundstaff here they had the pitch in a fantastic condition given the weather.
“It was just a pity for the people coming here that they had to watch that.
“It was a shame for Scottish football because it’s not a good spectacle for people to watch.
“There were no complaints about the pitch though.”