Dundee United manager Jackie McNamara admitted the derby draw felt like a defeat.
The Tangerines lost a two-goal lead at Tannadice last night as Dundee stormed back to grab a draw in injury-time thanks to defender James McPake’s last-gasp leveller.
They had looked comfortable heading into the closing stages thanks to Blair Spittal’s double but Greg Stewart got the visitors back in it and then the roof fell in on United with just seconds to go as McPake poked the ball over the line after home goalie Luis Zwick had failed to hold on to Gary Harkins’ shot.
Asked if it felt like his team had been beaten, McNamara replied: “Aye it does, the way it ended up.
“I think in the first half they were the better side and our keeper had a couple of good saves.
“We had to do better and in the second half I thought we were excellent.
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“We scored two but it could have been more. There was a great save off their goalie to push Simon Murray’s shot on to the bar. He had put it in the corner and done everything right.
“It was disappointing to lose the goal when we did but that’s football.
“Luis has saved the shot and it has come out. I don’t think it was a great strike but we will have a look back at it.
“I thought he kept us in it at 0-0 in the first half and he has been excellent for us so far.”
Spittal’s man-of-the-match display saw him score a couple of crackers, and McNamara said: “His movement and first touch was fantastic and he had one or two other chances so could have had a hat-trick.”
The Tangerines gaffer bemoaned the loss of Stewart’s goal because it gave Dundee hope.
“They got a lift from that goal,” he said. “I was disappointed with the way we gave possession away.
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“I said before the game not to let Stewart on to his left foot in those areas but he was able to have a good finish.
“I didn’t think they were going to cause us problems before that.
“Still, I can take a lot of positives from tonight, what with Blair scoring two goals like that.
“A lot has been made of Dundee and how they have done this year. We have a lot of young players in our team and they are coming in and handling it.
“So we are disappointed with some things but in the second half we could have scored a few more goals than we did.”