Coll Donaldson shrugged off chairman Stephen Thompson’s criticism as the Dundee United defender helped take the club into the last 16 of the William Hill Scottish Cup.
The 20-year-old centre-back was one of the group of players signed by the Tangerines in the summer and therefore a target of Thompson’s accusation that the recruitment done at that time was “poor.”
However, Donaldson brushed away the disparaging remarks from the boardroom after helping United clinch a 1-0 win over Airdrie in the fourth round at the Excelsior Stadium thanks to a fabulous freekick goal from Blair Spittal.
He said: “I didn’t take the chairman’s comments personally at all.
“I just go and train every day and try and learn from the older players like Sean Dillon, Ryan McGowan, and what the gaffer (Mixu Paatelainen) is trying to teach us.
“I’d heard about the comments but I don’t know who they were directed at.
“It might have been me but it doesn’t faze me.
“You just have to get on with your job.
“If you take comments personally and let it affect you then it will affect your performance on the pitch and that is the last thing you want.
“You need to be giving your all 100% – given the situation we’re in.
“We need to be pulling together.”
While he may not be fazed by Thompson’s criticism, Donaldson isn’t sticking his head in the sand and saying all is well with a team that lies 11 points adrift at the bottom of the Premiership far from it.
He added: “We’ve got a changing room and a group of players who are massively underachieving.
“We’re in the position we’re in because of our performances.
“We’ve taken the lead in six of our last seven games (before Saturday’s victory).
“It’s a confidence thing and hopefully we can build on this win.
“We are in games because we are not losing 3-0 or 4-0.
“Teams aren’t running over the top of us.”