| Today, Kerr and his team-mates were trying to snap out of a state of shock after they threw away a two-goal lead to lose to unfancied Finns MyPa 47 on the away-goals rule at Tannadice.
And Kerr, whose spectacular first-half strike appeared to set up an easy victory for the Tangerines, was finding that hard to do.
“It will be hard to get up for that game, but we’ve got to do it. We can’t dwell on this. It would be great to still be in Europe, but we are not, it’s over and we will just have to get on with it.
“Sunday’s a game we’ve got to win because, if we don’t, we are putting pressure on ourselves in the league.”
After dominating last night’s tie, Kerr found it hard to explain just how United had managed to blow their convincing lead in a crazy final 16 minutes.
“It’s a horrible feeling because we were so much on top. I think we showed we are a better-quality team, but we can’t keep throwing away stupid goals because things like that are going to kill us.
“Even when we lost the penalty, I thought we would still go through because we were keeping the ball, but one ball over the top has done us — it’s not as if they cut us open.
“For a long time we were comfortable, probably for 90% of the game, and it does not even feel as if we are out because we were so much on top.”
Gordon Chisholm shared Kerr’s disbelief, but was determined his players would be up to the task of getting three points this weekend.
He said, “I went home last night and thought about the game and I’m sitting here right now still in a state of disbelief that we did not go through, because we were so much on top.
“However, the fact is we are out of Europe and now we have to get the place lifted and look forward. We must not dwell on what’s happened and we have to make sure we get a result on Sunday.”
As well as broken hearts, United will again have to mend attacking midfielder Barry Robson, who played through the pain barrier again last night because of damaged ankle ligaments.
He has to be a doubt for Sunday’s game at Tannadice, though the following two-week break for internationals means he should be fully fit again for the trip to Hibs next month.
At today’s UEFA Cup first-round draw in Monaco, MyPa 47 were pulled out of the hat alongside Grasshoppers of Switzerland, while Hibs meet FC Dnipro, with the first leg against the Ukranians at Easter Road. Premiership trio Everton, Bolton and Middlebrough face Dinamo Bucharest (Romania), Lokomotiv Plovdiv (Bulgaria) and Xanthi (Greece) respectively. |
