Dundee United defender Ryan McGowan has dismissed the claim that the Tangerines lost a mind game as well as an actual game against St Johnstone.
In the wake of the 2-0 loss to the Perth team at Tannadice, Saints’ centre-half Frazer Wright insisted that they got “into their heads a wee bit.”
However, ahead of fourth-placed United’s home clash against third-placed Inverness Caley Thistle tonight, McGowan denied that was the case and argued that what happened was simpler than that – the Tangerines played poorly.
The Australian international said: “I think it’s sometimes easy to say things like that after a 2-0 win.
“But I think, at the end of the day, we just didn’t perform well.
“I don’t think it was anything to do with their being in our heads.
“That was my first game for United against St Johnstone so I don’t think it was in my head.
“As a new player coming in, I didn’t notice any sort of ‘Oh no, it’s St Johnstone’ or being scared or anything like that.
“I think it’s just the way they played against us and all credit to them.
“They performed well and their defenders defended well and their forward players got into positions which caused us problems.
“We have to be better than that and make sure it’s us who are causing the other team problems.”
It has been something of a mixed bag for McGowan in his four appearances for United since joining at the end of the transfer window.
He has helped the team beat Aberdeen to reach the League Cup final and then played a part in a professional job down at Stranraer as they reached the last eight of the Scottish Cup.
Since then the team has lost a last-gasp winner at Kilmarnock and then were deservedly beaten by St Johnstone.
McGowan said: “The last couple of weeks have obviously been disappointing but I think we showed in the League Cup semi-final and then in a tricky Scottish Cup away tie afterwards that we do have the players capable of getting results and playing good football.
“We were disappointed with the Kilmarnock game because we played really well in the first 45 minutes but then it was all credit to them for coming back at us and unfortunately we lost a last-minute goal.
“Then, at the weekend, we were bitterly disappointed by how we performed.
“The great thing is we have another game coming up against Inverness to go out and put right the wrongs of Saturday.”
As well as dismissing the notion that Saints beat them psychologically as well as physically, McGowan shot down the suggestion that the heart has been ripped out of the team because of the sale of Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven to Celtic.
That is perhaps backed up by the fact that United won seven, drew one and lost just one (against Celtic at Parkhead) of their first nine matches of the season and Mackay-Steven and Armstrong started together in just three of those matches as the Tangerines raced to the top of the Premiership.
McGowan said: “I think people just make that out because of how we have played in the last two games.
“Obviously, I wasn’t here for the first part of the season but I definitely think that the players we have in this squad were playing regularly, if not even more regularly than the two boys who’ve gone away.
“In the game against Motherwell that I watched before signing, GMS was on the bench.
“They have obviously gone and done well but we have players in this squad who are definitely more than capable of filling their shoes.
“It’s our job to go out there and show that these players aren’t missed by getting the right results.
“If we had won at Kilmarnock and on Saturday, the story would have been that we have lost those players but carried on.
“But the way football is that turns into we are missing those players because we lost.
“Hopefully, we will get a win against Inverness and then another over Partick Thistle on Saturday.
“That would be six points which would shoot us right up the ladder.”
United assistant boss Simon Donnelly, meanwhile, didn’t rule out keeping Michal Szromnik in goal instead of Rado Cierzniak, who was left out of the team against Saints.
The younger of the Polish keepers didn’t cover himself in glory for Michael O’Halloran’s opener but he may keep the gloves against ICT.
“The way it works is that Craig Hinchcliffe, our goalkeeping coach, will speak to the gaffer and then we will see what happens for the game,” said Donnelly.
“Rado had been carrying a thigh injury so we decided after the last few games that we would give Michal a chance and also giving Rado a chance to get over the injury.
“I thought Michal did all right.
“People will focus on that first goal but as a management team we also look at the three or four bits of play leading up to that.
“Michal himself will probably admit that he should have done better with it but there were three of four other instances where we could have defended better.
“Other than that, I thought he was pretty solid.”
So would Donnelly be happy to throw him in again?
“Yes, 100%, and that’s why he was in the team,”he said.
Donnelly revealed that Charlie Telfer should be fit for selection despite taking a heavy kick on the leg on Saturday.