| A fortnight ago, Ian was on a high as his side hit two late goals to snatch victory against Aberdeen. Last Sunday, though, his emotions hit the other end of the scale as the Tangerines under-performed in losing to city rivals Dundee.
As he chases a top-six place, Ian would be happy with an uneventful 90 minutes — just so long as they end with United coming out with three points.
“To be honest, if it was a run of the mill 1-0 win for us I would not be complaining,” he said.
“We want to play well, we always do, but the main priority has to be to get three points from this one and however we get them, I’ll take them.”
Ian also admitted that, for that to happen, his side would have to improve on their last two performances against the Pars.
At the beginning of November, United went down 2-0 after a tame performance in the SPL at East End Park and, earlier this month, lost 3-1 there in the Scottish Cup.
Ian’s views on the Pars’ synthetic surface have been well documented, but he also believes the quality of his team’s play was unacceptable in those games.
“There is no way these performances were all down to the pitch. To be fair, we were without half a team in the Scottish Cup game. But, even then, we should have played better football than we did.
“We have to be honest and say that the two games against Dunfermline so far this season have been among our poorest performances. Now we have the opportunity to show what we are really capable of and must do our best to take it.”
On the fitness front, Jim McIntyre and Chris Innes trained with the rest of the squad today and Ian will decide in the morning if they can start. If they do, he accepts that, after several weeks out, 90 minutes could be beyond them.
“With Chris playing in a defensive position, I would say there is a better chance of him lasting a full game, but I’ll have to see how they’ve reacted to training with the rest of the boys today before I make a decision on them,” he added.
For the visitors, the chances of Craig Brewster facing his old team are beginning to look slim. The veteran striker has an ankle injury and has been described by boss Jimmy Calderwood as a big doubt.
Barry Nicholson, taken off hurt at home to Motherwell last Saturday, has recovered and should be in his usual place in midfield. Meanwhile, although Lee Bullen is wanted on loan by several clubs, the manager has made it clear that if the player is leaving, it will only be via a permanent transfer. |
