Jim Goodwin says Dundee United’s 2-1 defeat against Motherwell in the Scottish League Cup quarter-finals was “as low as I can remember feeling for a long time”.
A stoppage-time penalty from Lennon Miller resulted in a late loss for the Tannadice side, who had equalised through a Louis Moult stunner.
Goodwin felt the performance at Fir Park was largely positive, but the manager said his team went on to “shot ourselves in the foot”.
“There was obvious disappointment after the game,” he said. “I said myself it was as low as I can remember feeling for a long time after a result.
“There wasn’t a great deal separating either team in the league and these games are often decided by small margins, and that’s what happened.
“The overall performance against Motherwell was fairly good to be honest and when we got the equaliser I felt we were in the ascendancy.
“If anybody was going to go and win the game it looked like it would have been ourselves, but we shot ourselves in the foot on the night.”
United will look to bounce back when they return to league action by facing Kilmarnock on Saturday.
And Goodwin feels positively about his players showing a reaction given their approach to training this week.
“When we came back into training on Monday, the boys were back on it and knew what was at stake,” he added.
“It’s about how you react to these disappointing situations and that shows the character within the group.
“We’ve had a great week’s training, the boys are really looking forward to the weekend and hopefully we get back to winning ways.”