Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Wilkie Terrors can’t display any Ibrox hangover in vital games to come
Lee
THERE’S no skirting around Dundee United’s performance at Ibrox on Saturday – they looked miles off the pace all day.
And that’s a big worry going into a very important part of the season.
Micky Mellon’s men have made a positive start to life in the Premiership but the last three matches have flagged up some real problems.
Yes, two of those games were against Rangers and Celtic and the other on the road to Kilmarnock.
And, of course, the performance against the Hoops was good, one that was unlucky not to earn them a point.
However, in each of those three games they only managed one shot on target.
That’s a massive concern.
In fact, United have the lowest amount of shots on target in the entire division with just 15 from their seven matches.
Mellon is just newly in the door at Tannadice and I do expect changes to be made to the squad before long.
That stat highlights the need for attacking reinforcements.
In terms of the performance at Ibrox on Saturday, I thought it was very poor.
Generally, you speak of getting anything from Rangers or Celtic as being a bonus.
But the display against the Hoops a few weeks back showed exactly how you should go about it. Saturday was nowhere near that. It was a frustrating watch because United just couldn’t keep possession for any period of time.
Continually giving the ball back to the Gers is a recipe for disaster and that’s what happened.
It’s up to Mellon to try to pick some positives out of it, there weren’t too many though.
Seeing Lawrence Shankland back out on the pitch is certainly one, even if it was just an exercise to get some minutes into his legs after his injury lay-off.
He’ll be a big help to the attack, of course, when fit and firing.
BEST of luck to the Scottish teams in European action this week. Rangers, Aberdeen and Motherwell all have tricky games but it would be great to see all getting through. Would be a boost for the whole
country.
I like Nicky Clark and he’s done his best but he’s been a little lost in the way United have been playing.
He’d like to be on the ball more and, hopefully, having Shankland back as a No 9 can bring the best out of him.
And the Scotland striker will be vital going into the three games before the Betfred Cup kicks off.
St Mirren at home, Hamilton away and Livingston at home are big ones for the Tangerines.
There can’t be any hangover from the last two matches in theses ones because against that sort of opposition is where United will be judged.
This is a key spell in the season for Mellon and his men.