Dundee United striker Steven Fletcher feels they lacked a nasty streak as they face up to almost certain relegation.
United suffered a fourth consecutive defeat on Wednesday as a 3-0 loss to Kilmarnock left them three points adrift with one game left of the cinch Premiership season.
A late equaliser from former United player Ryan McGowan for St Johnstone against Ross County looks like only delaying the inevitable as Jim Goodwin’s side would need an eight-goal swing to go their way even if they beat Motherwell and the Staggies lose at Kilmarnock.
Fletcher admitted there had been a key element missing all season.
The 36-year-old said: “We come in every day, work hard, but it’s all good doing that on the training pitch and us leaving the training pitch every day and saying ‘we’ve got a good squad’. I’ve said it all season, it’s a good team, a good group of lads.
“Sometimes it is not enough. When you cross that white line you need to roll up your sleeves and work hard for each other.
“We’ve got a great group of individual players who will probably have a great career but when you cross that line you need to work as a team and need to push each other.
“Sometimes, without overstepping the line, you need a bit of nastiness in your team.
“It’s frustrating. They’ll all go home and think about it. It’s quite a young group and it’s going to hit them. I’m an older, experienced lad, I kind of know how to take it but some of them, it might not hit them for a week or two. It is going to hit them that ‘I’m not going to be playing in the Premiership anymore, I’m going to be in the Championship’.
“They are going to need to get over it real quick because this club shouldn’t be down there, it should still be in the Premiership.
“All the lads need to go and have a hard look at themselves and see where they want to be in their careers because it is definitely not down there.”
Fletcher believes Goodwin should be given an extended contract despite the losing streak.
“I think he has been fantastic since he came in,” the former Scotland striker said. “I feel like, as a group, we have let him down to be honest. He came in and it was what we were crying out for, the way he was on the training pitch.
“He will probably say it is a group, collective thing, him as well. For me, we were the ones who crossed the white line, we were the ones who need to do the job.”
Fletcher played through the pain barrier on Wednesday after missing the defeat at Livingston.
“I had a little tear in my groin but I found it hard enough at the weekend sitting in the house watching it,” he said. “It was a risk and it didn’t pay off because I didn’t do much in the game. I couldn’t just sit at home and watch because I’m not that kind of guy.”
Mitrovic clinches last-gasp success for Saudi Pro League champions Al-Hilal
Aleksandar Mitrovic produced a last-gasp winner for Al-Hilal as the Saudi Pro League champions signed off with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Al-Wedha on Monday.
Jorge Jesus' side finished the league campaign unbeaten across the 34-game season, though needed late heroics from top scorer Mitrovic to snatch all three points.
Mohamed Kanno opened the scoring for the visiting champions in the first half but Yahya Naji's second-half leveller pegged Al-Hilal back at King Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium.
Yet Mitrovic provided the decisive moment in the 92nd minute, converting a Mohammed Al Burayk assist for his 28th league goal of the season.
The Serbia international ranks only behind Cristiano Ronaldo in this campaign's scoring charts, after the Al-Nassr forward claimed a piece of Saudi League history in a 4-2 victory over Al-Ittihad.
Ronaldo moved past Abderrazak Hamdallah's 34-goal tally – in the 2018-19 season – after his deadly double took him to 35 strikes and broke the single-season scoring record in the competition.
Victory for Al-Nassr means they finish second behind the impressive Al-Hilal, while Al-Ahli had already secured third in the standings before their 1-0 victory over Al-Fayha.
Roberto Firmino scored the only goal of the game in that narrow triumph, finding the net after 85 minutes at Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium.
At the other end of the table, Abha Club – who had Marcel Tisserand sent off late on – suffered heartbreak on the final day after losing 2-1 to bottom-placed Al-Hazem to seal their relegation.
Ahmed Abdu opened the scoring to boost Abha's survival hopes but second-half goals from Muhammed Badamosi and Mohammed Al Thani proved their undoing.
Al-Akhoud beat the drop after overcoming Al-Tai, who went down with Abha and Al-Hazem, 2-0 thanks to goals from Saviour Godwin and Leandre Tawamba at Prince Abdul Aziz bin Musa'ed Stadium.
Al-Nassr 4-2 Al-Ittihad: Ronaldo breaks Saudi Pro League scoring record in final-day win
Cristiano Ronaldo claimed a piece of Saudi Pro League history after scoring twice in Al-Nassr's 4-2 final-day victory over 10-man Al-Ittihad on Monday.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner was on target in either half at Al Awal Park, moving to 35 goals across the 2023-24 league campaign in Saudi Arabia.
Ronaldo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time after receiving a long ball from Mohammed Al-Fatil, before doubling his tally – and Al-Nassr's lead – with a header from Marcelo Brozovic's corner.
That second finish after Suwailem Al Manhali was dismissed for the visitors saw Ronaldo eclipse Abderrazak Hamdallah's 34-goal tally – in the 2018-19 season – for the most strikes in a single campaign.
Abdulrahman Ghareeb then added another from the penalty spot before Meshari Al Nemer made sure of three points after late goals from Farhah Al Shamrani and Fabinho had pulled Al-Ittihad back into contention.
Having already been unable to stop Al-Hilal secure the title, Al-Nassr finish second in the table – ending on 82 points after 26 wins from the 34-match campaign.
Data Debrief: Al-Nassr dominance pays off
Much will be made of the record-breaking Ronaldo, who has scored 50 goals in as many games across all competitions this season.
Yet Al-Nassr were dominant from the off in this one, mustering nine shots on target to Al-Ittihad's three, while accumulating 2.73 expected goals (xG) – far superior to the visitors' 1.43 xG.
Perez and Magnussen play blame game after huge Monaco Grand Prix crash
Sergio Perez and Kevin Magnussen both blame each other for the huge crash that forced a restart in the Monaco Grand Prix.
The pair came together during the opening lap of the race as Magnussen attempted to squeeze through a tight gap on the inside of Perez on the exit of Turn One.
The Red Bull was destroyed during the incident, while the Dane’s Haas team-mate Nico Hulkenberg also got caught in the chaos.
All three drivers were unharmed, though were ultimately forced out of the race when it restarted.
Perez was adamant following the race that the blame should be placed firmly on Magnussen’s shoulders.
He said: "It was an immense crash, one I'm disappointed about. I think it was totally unnecessary at that point of the race and there was no need for that.
"At some point, you have two options: Lift or have a contact, and I think it was too unnecessary with the speeds we were doing, and it was a massive contact.
"It was important to take things a little bit calmer."
The incident compounded a disappointing weekend for both teams, in particularly Haas after both drivers were disqualified from qualifying and sent to the back of the grid due to a technical infringement.
However, Magnussen stood by his belief he had every right to go for the gap and was forced into the barrier by the Mexican.
"From my point of view, I had a good part of my front on Perez's rear and when he went to the wall I got pushed to the wall and made contact with him," Magnussen said.
"I trusted he was going to leave space for me since I was there. It's not a corner where you're braking into it, it's a bend on the straight, so you have to have a car otherwise you leave the other guy no option.
"From my point of view, I was there, and I got squeezed to the wall."
Ultimately, neither driver was punished for the incident as the stewards deemed it a racing incident which needed no further investigation.
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