The manager on the Preston defeat
United manager Greg Abbott spoke to us about the penalty shoot-out defeat in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy first round on Tuesday evening.He said: "A penalty shoot-out is a 50:50 situation and you go through almost on the spin of a coin.
"We've had our fair share of wins with them and it's just disappointing for the effort the players have put in.
"They competed very well and created numerous chances against difficult opposition, particularly with the way they approach their football matches.
"We had a lot of chances and it comes down to the fact we haven't put any of them away. Their goal was a bit of a freak goal and I don't think Mark Gillespie has had much to do at all.
"It's disappointing that we didn't take the ones we made but the positive is that we're creating them. If we keep doing that then we'll win games, so that's the lesson to take. We should be sitting here and talking about a win but that's the fine line we're on. I thought we deserved a victory on the night simply because of the way we played our football.
"The goal from JP [McGovern] was probably one of our more difficult chances but it gave us the opportunity to go on and win the game. The red card put us on the back foot and it was no surprise it was shown. There's no real point in raising an appeal because you have no chance with them. Liam [Noble] was wearing rubber studs and they wouldn't hurt in that circumstance, but if he'd had proper studs on and he'd caused injury then it might have been different. We're asking him to make tackles, he's a midfielder, and I don't think there was any jumping in or diving involved. However, it's seen as showing aggression in the tackle so we have to accept it.
"We're pleased for Mark [Gillespie]. He's got his full debut and he did everything he had to. He looked sharp and assured but he wasn't really tested with how things panned out. We protected our goal quite well so he'll take confidence from it.
"There's nothing to read into the fact he was selected. We now know we have two keepers who are ready and we've always wanted that. It's good for the club to have two keepers battling for the number one jersey and it's good for the lads as well."
United Player subscribers can see a video interview with Greg Abbott later today. For more information on United Player, and to subscribe, click HERE.