Ross Graham insists Dundee United derby pain will help fuel fire to revive form amid top six charge

The Tangerines suffered a set back in their push for a tip four finish with defeat to Dundee on Sunday

Ross Graham is in no doubt the Dundee United dressing room have the character to pick themselves up and recover from their derby disaster.

Jim Goodwin’s side were dumped 4-2 at home by Dundee on Sunday. The Dark Blues tore up the form book and now United will have two weeks to stew on things before they return for their top six push.

Graham admitted: "It's big, but we've got a lot of big characters in there, big players with good quality as well.

"So I know the next time out, we'll put things right. Of course, everyone's disappointed after that game, but there's still a lot to play for this season.

"So we need to quickly put that behind us. We've got a long time until the next game, two weeks.

"So we need to get that out of our heads today and push on for the next one.

"And hopefully try and achieve the outcomes that we've set for ourselves."

Dundee still sit in fifth place but seventh-placed Motherwell are now just three points behind. They have three games before the split.

They are away to Ross County and Hearts and then entertain St Johnstone. The first aim is securing top six and then looking to push for Europe.

"I think we know what our outcomes are internally,” the defender stated. "We know what we're striving for.

"I think the aim at the start of the season was to stay up, and you've seen how well we've done.

"So we want to keep pushing forward and secure the top six now.

“The results went in our favour last weekend.

"We couldn't capitalise on that, so we're kind of disappointed in that sense as well.

"But look, we've still got three games to the split, and there's still a lot to play for."

United’s success this season has been based on solid foundations but they disappeared on Sunday. Defensively, United were torn apart and Graham knows it was unacceptable.

He acknowledged: “Very tough, yeah. Totally unacceptable from everyone out there today, especially the first half.

"We can't come into a derby match and play like that. It's just totally unacceptable.

"I'm not sure I can put any pointers on that. We kept causing ourselves our own problems and Dundee capitalised on that.

"We can't go into a game like that, let alone a derby, and perform like that. So we need to take ownership of that and make sure it doesn't happen again.

"Yeah, when you lose, you've always got a game the following week, but obviously there's no game next week.

"So it's going to take a lot to get this out of our heads. But we just need to shake it off quickly and prepare for the next game.

"Look, we know how much it meant to the fans.

"I know that myself. Obviously, just hugely disappointed, and we can't perform like that again, especially in the derby."