How Dundee United squad rallied round penalty fall guy Amar Fatah as Max Watters eyes Premier Sports Cup bounce back

Daily Record

a day ago

The Tangerines suffered a heartbreaking Conference League exit on Thursday night
Max Watters has warned there can be no European hangover and Dundee United need to be up for the cup at Kilmarnock.
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United faced the heartbreak of going out of the Conference League on penalties to Rapid on Thursday night.
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The striker, who netted twice in Thursday's 2-2 draw against the Austrians, reckons United can take pride from their European push.
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Watters believes it shows his team's potential but now it is about showing it again when they travel to Killie in the Premier Sports Cup.
He said: 'Well, we go back to work, we'll concentrate on Sunday's game and just try and pick ourselves up and brush it off.
'Yes, it's tough, but that's just the way football is so we have to get on with it.
'(I am) Disappointed but the thing with football over here, you've got to get on with it because we've got another game Sunday, which is just as important.
'So we've got to forget about it and move on. We've gone two games against a really good (Rapid) team.
'We managed to get a draw away against their really good fans, which was intimidating at times.
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'But to come here and go 2-0 up just shows what ability we've got and how good the group is that we've got.'
Amir Fatah was the Dundee United fall guy as he missed the only penalty in the shoot-out. The on-loan Troyes winger, though, has the full backing of his Tannadice teammates and has been tipped to bounce back and have a big season in Scotland.
Watters insisted: 'Yes, it's not good when missing a penalty, but all the boys, it's a great team so all the boys were around him and supporting him.
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"It's part of football. Someone's going to miss. Unfortunately, it had to be him today and unfortunately it had to be Dundee United but he'll be alright.
"He's got enough people around him to help him get through it.'
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United more than matched an Austrian side who spent millions on their team this season. Jim Goodwin's side haven't cost a penny yet although nominal fees are to be paid down the line for Zac Sapsford and Dario Namoo. They have since added Luca Stephenson and Julius Eskesen for the trip to Ayrshire.
Watters acknowledged: 'Europe's gone, but I think everyone can see the potential this club's got with the players coming in and the players coming back from injury and the players we've got on the pitch already.
"It's really good to see.
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'Yes, they've (Rapid) spent a lot of money, they've brought some good players in, but for us to go and do that in the first half, the whole game really, even in the last 30 minutes of extra time, when the younger players came on and showed what they were about and popped the ball around them, you can see their fans and their players were scared because we were so good at times.
'We carved them open, we created some good chances, so it's really good to see what we're going to be like coming up when we get players back in.
'We've obviously signed two more players the other day, so it's really exciting.'
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The 26-year-old is on loan from Barnsley and is United's main man, having scored four goals in his last three outings and has already become a fans' favourite.
He admitted: 'Yes, it's a really good start for me personally.
'I've got a few goals under my name now so I've got to push on and try to get some more and help the team, hopefully get a win on Sunday.
'Yes, before I played in this league, I spoke to people who have played in it and they said one thing is the fans are amazing, they love their football and they're really committed to supporting their team.
'Coming here, it just shows how good they are. I was really, really pleased with how good they were today.'
United have a number of long-term injuries and Sapsford is likely to miss out after limping off against Rapid.