Demanding gaffer Ray McKinnon was delighted to see his much-changed team reach the semi-finals of the Irn Bru Cup — but has told his men where they could have been better.
Ray made eight changes from the midweek side that beat Dunfermline in the league at Tannadice and still saw his side come out on top again against the Pars.
A Mark Durnan goal, his third in four games, gave the Tangerines victory in the Saturday lunchtime clash at East End Park.
It was a seventh competitive win in a row and stretched United’s unbeaten run to nine games.
If that made the manager smile, he was still in no mood to overlook a few faults in the performance.
“I’m happy with the result,” he stressed.
“We made eight changes, got some young kids on the park, had Lewis Toshney back from injury and people like Sean Dillon got game time they needed.
“So to get the same result as Tuesday against virtually the same team — we’ve got to be pleased with that.
“But I did think we were a wee bit wasteful sometimes in the game, though ultimately we’ve won the game and we are in the semi-final so I can’t complain too much.
“We could have been a bit slicker with our passing but the park was a bit wet and heavy so we’ve got to be happy.
“And I was disappointed because we had some good opportunities in attack but we’ve taken the wrong option and it’s taken a centre-half to show us what to do.
“We probably should have buried things when they were down to 10 men but, fair play to Dunfermline, because they kept plugging away and gave us a fright near the end.
“Like I say, though, overall I don’t want to be too critical because we did make a lot of changes and still won.”
Another bonus on Saturday was the sight of midfielder Stewart Murdoch coming off the bench for the final few minutes of action.
He’s been out since September with knee ligament trouble.
Getting him back in time for the looming Championship clashes with Morton and Hibs is a major boost.
Former Ross County man Murdoch is unlikely to be considered for a starting place at Cappielow this weekend but could get part of the game.
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