Midfielder Stanton says players to blame

Dundee United midfielder Sam Stanton concedes there has to be serious improvement at Tannadice.

A dreadful midweek home defeat to Queen of the South means it’s now just two wins in nine games for the promotion hopefuls coming towards the business end of the season.

That leaves today’s encounter against fifth-placed Dunfermline Athletic as absolutely crucial. Should United lose again they would likely drop out of the play-offs, with promotion rivals Greenock Morton also hosting bottom club Brechin City.

“It has been a very difficult spell and it was hard to take the other night,” Stanton told the Dundee Courier. “We lost some silly goals and we have definitely not been helping ourselves but we need to stick together and try and get results.

“We need to be ready to bounce back and there are no excuses,” he insisted. “There is nobody to blame but ourselves. We are the only ones who can get ourselves out of the situation we have put ourselves in.”