“The pleasing thing for me is the nature of the game. It was clear that we were a team that was hell bent of getting on top of them. The intensity of our play was excellent in terms of winning the ball back, moving the ball quickly and the players deserve a lot of credit for that.

“Despite them being well into their campaign, I felt they were flagging. They had a few bookings and a few lazy challenges and were finding it difficult to cope. Prior to the game, I thought privately that the goal had to come in the first half and with the way the team was set-up, that first goal was all important.

“They used their counter-attacking threat in the second half to cause us a few moments of anxiety and then we got caught running with the ball in the wrong area and they took advantage of that and it made the task even more difficult.

“From then on in, with people stopping the play and players going down with injuries, they tried to take the sting out of the game and it was difficult for us to keep generating that intensity but I still felt if we got the equaliser, that second goal would come. Unfortunately, we ran out of time.

“While we are disappointed, there is still a lot of pride as I feel that the team is improving and the fact that 20,000+ stayed and applauded at the end of the game is recognition of the players’ efforts. We lacked a bit of quality in the final third at times but for effort, determination and intelligence of play, we were excellent.

“The determination is there and we have got so much going for us. We have got a great dressing room to manage and have a good squad of players that make me feel confident about the rest of the season.

“Determination has never been a failing and the supporters see that. They are not daft, they seen a team that was hell bent on winning.

“We want to try and get off to a good start in our league campaign and we will hope for a similar outcome to the one at Tannadice on Sunday. We will freshen up in certain areas where we feel that it is needed but it is important that we bring an intensity to our play. We want to make sure that we respond by winning on Sunday.

“We congratulate Almaty, they are a good side, but we are disappointed.”

“We congratulate Almaty, they are a good side, but we are disappointed.”