Dundee United have not played at Tannadice since the 2nd of January. On that day a fairly comfortable 4-1 win against Brechin looked like setting up a potentially very rewarding spell of games. Sitting here three weeks later it is safe to say that things have been pretty rubbish. Injuries seem to be piling up (Tam Scobbie the latest) and the results have been poor. The obvious low point was the thrashing at the hands of Falkirk but the distinctly average performances at Dunfermline and Alloa have done little to lift confidence amongst the supporters. It feels like I am a broken record in saying this but Saturday’s home game against Morton definitely IS the biggest game of the season so far. We are probably heading into the last chance saloon with 14 league games left of the current campaign and very little room for further slip ups.
Csaba Laszlo has spoken this week about the fact that he believes his players have left a slump and are on the way up. A number of new signings means that there is at least a sense of anticipation for the game on Saturday but it really is all or nothing from here on in. The numerous injuries don’t help matters but at least there are more bodies in the squad to mix things up if it isn’t quite going our way. New French youngster Idris Kadded seems to have sparked a bit of intrigue and the return of Thomas Mikkelsen is a welcome boost along with the fit again Stewart Murdoch and, apparently, William Edjenguélé. We may also see a glimpse of our other French youngster Logan Martin as his paperwork should be cleared by the end of the week. The manager has hinted that he has up to three additional players in mind for potential transfers but the likelihood is that we will probably not see more than one coming in before the transfer window closes in a week.
“We, really, after St Mirren, had a fall in a hole and we went very deep,” said Laszlo earlier in the week.
“Now we have come back. At Dunfermline you saw the light, we didn’t score but we got a point. Against Alloa we scored two goals. I think this is important for the confidence and for the fans.
“In the first half maybe they suffered a lot but, in the second half, we showed we were also on the field. We said, ‘guys we are here as well’. This was good.”
In terms of injuries and suspensions we are still looking at a rather large and intimidating list of players. Suspended for Saturday is Paul McMullan and the injury list currently reads as follows…Tam Scobbie, Lewis Toshney, James Keatings, Jordie Briels, Fraser Fyvie and Scott Fraser. Enough to derail anyone’s title challenge…
As for the visitors we are facing them after they secured a very positive result against Dunfermline in the Scottish Cup. The 2-1 victory showed that Morton are still a side to be very wary about. They have had mixed results in the league recently but they are more than capable of taking points at Tannadice if United are not at their best.
My team against Morton would be –
GK – Harry Lewis
RB – Stewart Murdoch
CB – Mark Durnan
CB – Paul Quinn
LB – Jamie Robson
CM – Craig Slater
CM – Sam Stanton
RM – Emil Lyng
CAM – Scott McDonald
LM – Billy King
ST – Thomas Mikkelsen
Subs – Deniz Mehmet, Brandon Mason, Willo Flood, Scott Allardice, William Edjenguélé, Logan Martin, Idris Kadded.
Key Player – Thomas Mikkelsen – No pressure Thomas but to be honest you could be the difference between a title and a playoff. The club have been crying out for a consistent target man and now, especially given the bullish talk from you in the papers, we need you to step up to the plate!
