Dundee United boss Jackie McNamara hopes transfer speculation surrounding certain players will not be allowed to derail any title aspirations the club may still have.
Celtic have already captured Gary Mackay-Steven’s signature on a pre-contract, while reports continue to link the Hoops with a move for midfielder Stuart Armstrong.
But McNamara reckons his players cannot blame off-field matters for their own failings as they were held to a 1-1 draw by struggling St Mirren last night.
Armstrong netted United’s equaliser after Kenny McLean had given Saints the lead, but both teams had to settle for a point in Paisley.
And asked if he felt the ongoing transfer rumours may have had an impact, the United boss told Courier Sport: “I hope not.
“That’s something obviously I can’t answer.
“There’s been speculation about a few of our players but I thought Armstrong was our best player tonight.
“He gets the goal but his running, his awareness, his tracking back the little things that maybe people have questioned in the past were great.
“I see that other side of him and he’s learning and he’s a fantastic talent.
“I thought GMS did well as well in certain bits of the game.
“Obviously there’s speculation with them Nadir Ciftci I felt didn’t have the best of games, his decision-making and doing things with the ball, although he should have scored at least one goal.
“Over the piece though I don’t think they can use the excuse that there’s speculation about them.”
United had the chance to go third with a win, and McNamara was clearly frustrated that his men could not step up to the plate.
“I’m disappointed with a lot of things some of our play, our passing, our decision making,” he continued.
“But I think the main point was the schoolboy goal we lost down the middle.
“We made things hard for ourselves with our negative play, and we had a few passes back to the goalkeeper rather than taking responsibility for ourselves.
“We had a few moments there and I still think we should have taken advantage of a few opportunities, but we didn’t.
“We scored a good goal by doing it simple, and had a few other opportunities in the second half like that, but not enough bravery on the ball and not enough positive play at times.
“There seems to be a bit of fear and apprehension at times.
“If you concede a goal like we did you put yourself under a lot of pressure.
“We should be better than that and there’s a lot of things that we should do better.”