We should be going into this one on the back of a win. We were miles better than Dundee in the first half on Wednesday night but missed countless chances. Not for the first time this season we were made to pay and suffered an awful defeat. Not only did it dent the confidence but it also gives the Dens Park side a glimmer of hope in their battle to beat the drop. That's something we must put to bed and quickly, starting off with tomorrow's game. Three points should just about kill off whatever chance they have of catching us and ensure we're heading into the final on a high.
We are long overdue a home win over Dundee United. April 2001 was the last time we managed it, Ricky Gillies scoring a last gasp winner in a fantastic Monday night game shown live on TV. By coincidence the man who opened the scoring for Dundee United last night was Steven Thompson. We got relegated at the end of that season and spent five years in the first division but it's still a ridiculous amount of time without a win over the Arabs in Paisley. By comparison we've beaten every other SPL side - and Rangers - at least twice at home since then! It's a record that needs to come to an end.
We have already shown we can go toe to toe with United and come out on top this season as we beat them in a thrilling game at Tannadice just after Christmas. We'd probably have drawn with them at Greenhill Road in October too, losing a dire game because of a penalty when it looked a stick on to finish goalless. This one will probably be somewhere in between, but we have to take or chances when they came along and not do anything stupid at the back. If we fail on either of those fronts then we'll be beaten by a team from the City of Discovery for the second time this week.
Cup final places are up for grabs this week and every player should go into it looking to secure their slot. No one should be out to avoid injuries or suspensions and we should not be resting players. Field the strongest team we have and get a result - or at least a performance - that gives us confidence of our dreams coming true next week. The problem is our strongest team isn't available to us at the moment. Lee Mair is injured and may not be fit for next week, Jim Goodwin is touch and go while Gary Teale and Steven Thompson are carrying knocks.
Do we risk them? Goodwin probably not - play Paul Dummett in defence and move Graham Carey to leftback. As for the other two? I'm really not sure. Maybe have them on the bench, put Esmael Goncalves up front alongside Sam Parkin and have Dougie Imrie or Lewis Guy playing wide right. I appreciate many of us criticised Wednesday's team selection but there's a difference between resting players and not risking those with knocks. Of course, that may well be what happened during the week anyway!
Quite a few United fans I know seemed pretty pleased when they decided to get shot of Peter Houston in January. Despite him seeming to do well on an ever decreasing budget they'd had enough of him, his tactics and the fact they hadn't won at home since August. Admittedly they weren't quite sure Jackie McNamara was the right man for the job, but this fears vanished after a goal within the first 20 seconds of his managerial debut against Rangers! Time will tell whether or not he is the right man for the job or flavour of the month after his good work at Partick Thistle but the fans seem happy enough with him at the moment. United are eighth in the SPL - which may partly explain Houston's departure - but they are a single point off a top sixth place. If they can secure that there's no reason why they can't push for Europe after the split and they also still have the Scottish Cup semi-finals to look forward to. They were paired with Hampden in Monday's draw and we all know how easy a game that should be...
One of the biggest complaints during Houston's final season in charge was the state of the defence. United have conceded a ridiculous number of goals in the SPL, a pretty worrying statistic for a side that seemed well placed to push for second spot this season. Things aren't likely to get better any time soon now that Gavin Gunning is injured. Brian McLean can be solid but McNamara has decided to bring in Swede Marcus Tornstrand from our old pals at Hammarby. It's hard to put a finger on the reason for their frailties as on paper the defence looks decent enough when everyone is fit - Keith Watson looks solid enough and Barry Douglas does a job even though he's perhaps a bit too willing to get forward. Shaun Dillon is also a consistent performer while Radoslaw Cierzniak looks a decent enough goalie - not that he had a great deal to do in Paisley earlier in the season.
Thankfully for the Arabs the goals have also been flowing at the other end but that may stop now. Johnny Russell's season so far has seen him score 20 goals but he is extremely unlikely to add to that tally after breaking his leg against Inverness Caley Thistle last week. He'll almost certainly be out until the summer which is a huge loss and while the arrival of Rory Boulding this week is unlikely to fully make up for that, the fact United have a new striker is a problem with us. Jon Daly is still a threat up front even though injuries seem to be catching up with him, but he can also do a job at the back - and can still be utilised at set-pieces. Gary Mackay-Steven is also a great player to watch with some fancy footwork and he was yesterday named in the Scotland squad.
Houston seemed to have pulled off a bit of coup when he signed Michael Gardyne towards the end of last season. The midfielder was a key part of Ross County's title winning squad and looked set to be the next lower league player to make a name for himself at Tannadice. For whatever reason it hasn't yet happened for him or Mark Millar, who came from Falkirk, but maybe they'll kick on next season with a year's SPL experience under their belts. John Rankin has been a revelation after being binned by Hibs while Willo Flood has also seen his form improve over the last few months to the sight his own fans aren't sick of the sight of him. Stuart Armstrong seems to be a bright prospect and likes getting forward but Richie Ryan is another player, like Millar and Gardyne, who doesn't seem to start too often.
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