Shaun Byrne has admitted hearing Dundee United’s players celebrate their derby win was “gutting.”
Dundee lost for the second time of the season to the Tangerines at Dens Park on Friday night thanks to a Nicky Clark penalty and Lawrence Shankland strike.
The United players danced for joy on the pitch after full-time and the partying continued in the away dressing room.
That made defeat even harder for the Dark Blues to stomach, as midfielder Byrne conceded.
He said: “Hearing them celebrate at our place was gutting for us.
“We have to pick ourselves up now and get going again.
“It was really disappointing.
“The first half was a battle and it didn’t have much quality.
“They got the first goal and that gave them a lift, then we lost another one and couldn’t get back into it.
“When you lose a goal you have to react but we didn’t do enough.”
There are now nine points separating the city sides and Dundee are playing catch-up.
Byrne said: “We wanted to close the gap so it’s disappointing.
“In the last three games we got momentum going and have been good so we are frustrated we couldn’t keep it going.
“The goals we lost were really poor.
“They were mistakes from us and we have to learn from them.
“It wasn’t good enough and we have to be better in games like this.
“There is still a long way to go so we can eat into the gap again but we have to go on a winning run.”
Byrne was the victim of a bad challenge from Calum Butcher after just two minutes of the Dens clash.
The foul earned the United midfielder a booking but Byrne felt had it been later in the match then it could have been a red card.
He said: “I just took the ball and played it out wide.
“The tackle was quite high.
“You get those challenges in derby games and I think if it had happened later it might have been more than a yellow.
“But it is gone now and I am more interested in our performance.”
