Craig, who went on to the park at the break in a bid to “gee up” the supporters, admitted today he felt for them.

“What I was doing at half-time was trying to get them up for the second half, but I have to say I have nothing but admiration for them for the way they stayed right behind the team to the end,” he said.

“I’d also like to apologise to them for what we put them through yesterday, because we did not play at all well.

“I would point out that, in my two years here, I have not had to apologise often and I will be more than happy if it’s another two years before I have to again.”

And it is that fact that has saved his charges from a blast for their uncharacteristic collapse.

“In defence of the players, I have to say they have been doing very well and, just recently, have come through some tough fixtures with flying colours.

“In the previous four games to this combined, for example, we have not looked like conceding as many goals as we did yesterday and, even early on against Motherwell, there was no indication of what was going to happen.

“Normally, you see signs when something is not right, but we actually started well and had a couple of decent chances.

“Then we lost a goal and something like 10 minutes later we were three down. It just goes to show again that football is not a predictable game.”

One thing the manager would predict today, though, was a response from his team when St Mirren visit on Saturday.

“Given what’s gone before this, I have to believe it was a one-off and, in the past, the players have always shown the right response to defeats, and that’s what I expect on Saturday,’’ he added.

Today, United were parading the latest of a quartet of players to put pen to paper on extended contracts.

David Robertson and Kevin Smith have been fixed up until May 2011, while Garry Kenneth and David Goodwillie have pledged their futures to the club for a year longer than that.

And, once again, it was a lack of goals from Britain’s lowest scorers that was the reason for a disappointing result.

As well as being unhappy with the number of chances his men missed, Jocky felt his side failed to get to grips with the opposition’s “in your face” style.

“We did miss some decent chances and there comes a point where you can’t talk about it being good that we are creating them, because we have to start scoring,” said Jocky.

“However, on Saturday I thought part of the problem was definitely that the players lacked the game knowledge of how to play against a team like Morton.

“They are in your face and try to close you down quickly and, when you face a team like that, the key is to pass the ball quickly and early.

“If you do that, you frustrate them, not the other way about, and you create chances. We told the players that and, when they did it, we created, but too often it didn’t happen and that’s why we struggled.

“It’s a problem, but it is something we will keep working on to get an improvement.”

Today, the condition of centre-half Jim Lauchlan was being checked. He was forced off in the first half on Saturday with a hamstring problem, but there is some hope it was caught early enough for damage to have been kept to a minimum.

“Jim felt it and we got him off straight away, so he should not have aggravated it further, but we won’t know for sure until it’s been assessed. It’s a blow, because he has been doing well, though it is a position where we have good options.”

Eric Paton went off with a dead leg, but he is expected to be OK in a few days.

Dundee fans, meanwhile, are being given the chance to vote for the first names to be included in the club’s new hall of fame.

Fans can vote online at the official website and a voting form will also be appearing in Thursday’s Evening Telegraph. Closing date for votes is the end of next month and the first members of the hall of fame will be inducted on April 3.

Dundee’s twice-postponed league fixture at Livingston has been rescheduled for Saturday, February 7.

The Dundonian is presently with Viking Stavanger, but has been training with Saints for a couple of days. However, Perth boss Derek McInnes says there is nothing doing as regards signing.

Tonight’s reserve match at East Fife was postponed.