Dundee United interim manager Dave Bowman has said that the blame for Jackie McNamara’s departure from Tannadice lies squarely at the door of the underperforming players at Tannadice.

Bowman revealed that McNamara has been helping him in his preparations for today’s vital match against Partick Thistle at Firhill, as he tries to rally a group of players he feels let their previous manager down badly.

He said: “I think the players know they have cost Jackie his job.

“There is no beating about the bush – if a manager gets the sack it is because the players aren’t performing.

“Jackie never lost the dressing room at all. I’ve seen it before in the past when managers have lost the support of the players but that was definitely not the case.

“Jackie had their full support and the players were upset with what’s happened.

“The bottom line is, though, that the players have cost him his job by not performing.

“There is a determination to put it right. It’s a results business so it doesn’t matter how good I think the players are – it’s about proving it on the pitch.

“I don’t doubt them at all. If you ask any manager in our game to look at the players in our dressing room they would all rate them. If they became available they would get snapped up.

“I would be very confident that with the players we’ve got there will be no concerns about relegation at this club.

“But sometimes you need that wee bit of luck in football and for some reason it has just not clicked for them recently and then self-belief goes.

“So we have to get them back to believing in themselves.”

As Bowman remained non-committal on whether or not he would like the permanent managerial post, St Johnstone’s Steven MacLean moved to distance his manager Tommy Wright from a move up the A90, insisting that if Wright was to move on from Perth, it would be for an even bigger position.

“He has done a fantastic job here,” MacLean said.

“We know he will be linked with jobs but no disrespect to Dundee United, I’d expect teams in England will be looking at what he has done here.”

Meanwhile, Partick Thistle midfielder Stuart Bannigan says that everyone at Firhill is keenly aware of how important it is to get their first victory of the season today over the side closest to them in the Premiership table.

He said: “We know how important this game is for us and a victory will see us overtake them.

“All we can do is try to think what their team might be and how they’ll shape up. A new manager might shake things up, try a different formation, so it leaves a wee question mark over them. But it shouldn’t make a difference to us if it’s a caretaker manager or not. It’s not up to us to worry about that.

“In terms of their players, they could go into their shell or try and express themselves in front of a new manager – it could go either of two ways.

“People have been saying we’ve had bad luck this season but I don’t think it’s down to that. I just think we’ve not been playing well enough to beat teams.”