Dundee United captain Paul Paton has admitted there has been no evidence to suggest the Tangerines can produce the footballing miracle needed to keep them in the Premiership.
The dejected skipper, who said if he had been a fan he would have joined those who walked out of Tannadice in disgust when Inverness Caley Thistle scored their second goal on Saturday, believes they now require five wins out of five to have a chance of beating the drop.
But, after the weekend capitulation, Paton found it hard to make a case for that happening.
“You never say never and you never give up,” he said. “But, right now, it doesn’t look good.
“The way we’ve been playing this season it’s going to take something monumental to get us out of this situation.
“An eight point gap with five to play? There’s absolutely nothing to suggest we’ll pull that back unless we get our fingers out.”
On some of the United fans deciding they had seen enough after five minutes of the second half, Paton said: “I would probably have done the same.
“If I’d paid good money to watch that I’d probably have walked away as well. I’d have gone down the pub.
“It’s the fans you’ve got to feel for. I’m not just saying that. They’ve been the backbone of this club and we’ve let them down again.”