Liam Fox has urged Dundee United to get to grips with opposition crosses as he admitted size is counting against his Tannadice strugglers.
The Terrors slumped to their seventh Premiership defeat of the season in Paisley and it was a familiar tale of woe for Fox as his side were again undone by balls into the box. Both St Mirren goals came from deliveries from out wide, a flaw that was also exploited by Kilmarnock as they dumped United to claim a League Cup semi-final berth in midweek.
But with his back-line lacking height, Fox says it’s up to his team to stop the danger at source. He said: “We’ve come away with no points and we’re hugely disappointed about that. There are aspects of our game that I thought were quite good but there are things we need to get better at — and need to get better at quickly. We need to stop crosses coming into the box and we need to make better decisions, especially when we are on top in games.
“We’ve conceded a couple of goals when we are on top in games and there is plenty for us to look at structurally, and individually. This job is never going to be easy but we have a full week’s training before Motherwell and we’ll get back to work.
“There’s nothing we can do about the size of the centre-halves so we need to look at other ways to combat that — and it’s up to me and my staff to do that.” Steven Fletcher climbed off the bench to net his third goal for the club but there was a concern for Fox as Tony Watt limped off.
The United gaffer - who was also missing Dylan Levitt - said: “Flectch has been training well throughout this week and he’s a massive influence in our changing room, a top player. When he came on today there was a reaction. He got his goal and it’s a positive to have him back.
“There was a wee issue with Tony’s back but we’re not sure. We’ll see how he is this week.
“And Dylan hurt his knee on Thursday night. He got a bit of ligament damage on his knee. It’s nothing too serious and hopefully he’ll be back for next week."
