Dundee United manager Mixu Paatelainen is considering using sports psychology to help his players.
The bottom-placed Tangerines have struggled with the mental demands placed upon them during matches as they become more seriously threatened by relegation from the Premiership with each passing week.
The derby defeat to Dundee on Saturday saw them take the lead with a wonderful goal from Blair Spittal only to concede an equaliser four minutes before half-time.
That Dundee goal saw new goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima fail with an attempted punched clearance and the Tangerines seemed to get collectively deflated after Kane Hemmings’ strike hit the back of their net.
The players rallied eventually and went on to play some good stuff in the second half but they still lost the match thanks to a Nick Ross shot that deflected in off the body of defender Sean Dillon.
The blame for the Dens loss could probably be placed as much on what went on inside United heads as much as the physical efforts of the players.
With that in mind, Paatelainen is considering all options.
“‘I do believe in sports psychology and it is something I have been thinking about a lot,” said the Tannadice boss.
“Psychology in general is great.
“I don’t believe in group psychology, though, because everybody is unique and different.
“Everyone reacts differently to each situation.
“So it has to be a one-on-one sessions with a psychologist. That is definitely something I’m looking at.
“It is something I have always been interested in.
“I have had many meetings with people from that area to help me treat players right and be stronger in certain situations.
“So it’s definitely something we need to look at and do something about.”
Paatelainen, having had time to reflect upon the derby defeat, wasn’t any less frustrated that his players lost again despite opening the scoring.
He said: “Of course that concerns me if that happens.
“We want to be tougher, mentality-wise, but I think we are improving on that front.
“The players realise that there are certain moments during the game when they really need to show strength and do things right, footballing wise, instead of getting a little bit complacent.
“You can’t think: ‘Oh yeah, we’ve got a goal so we’re fine now.’
“That’s definitely something that we must stop.
“We must be stronger in those situations. That’s an important point.”