Charlie Mulgrew urges Dundee United players to show mettle after woeful week

Charlie Mulgrew admits every Dundee United player is going to have to do some “sore and painful” personal reflection in an effort to get back on track after a disastrous week.

The Tannadice side suffered a 4-1 defeat to cinch Premiership rivals Hearts at Tynecastle on Sunday, just three days after their humiliating 7-0 thrashing at the hands of AZ Alkmaar in the Europa Conference League.

Veteran Mulgrew knows the results have been unacceptable and is well aware they need to snap out of their malaise in time for Saturday’s visit of St Mirren.

“We wanted to bounce back after midweek and show real character but we didn’t do it,” he said. “It’s a sore one.

“I’m not gong to make excuses, we’re all athletes, professional football players. We’ve had a pre-season and we’ve done enough to get to a level where we are fit enough to play two games a week.

“The players take full responsibility for what happened on Sunday.

“I think we all have to self-reflect. You look at yourself firstly and be honest with yourself and ask yourself if you’ve done enough.

“That’s what I’ll be doing. The answer will probably be, ‘No, I haven’t’.

“You need to pick yourself up quickly but it’s not easy. I’ve been here a good few times as a football player and it’s part and parcel of the game.

“It’s sore and painful. There are lows in football but you need to move on quickly.”

Mulgrew is confident that United have a squad of players equipped to put their dismal week, which began with a 1-0 home defeat by Livingston, behind them.

“I definitely think we’ve got the characters to help us move on,” he said. “There’s a lot of honest boys in there who will look at themselves and realise that what we produced as a group in the last two games wasn’t good enough.

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