Naysmith wary of all-round threat
QOS v AYR UTD
GARY NAYSMITH is wary of the dangers that lie in treating Ayr as a one-man team.
The Queen of the South boss insists there is just no point in focusing all their attention on keeping Lawrence Shankland quiet.
And ahead of today’s visit by Ian McCall’s men, Naysmith said: “Ayr do not lose many goals or games – so they must have a good defence.
“I am also not a believer that if you keep Shankland quiet you win the game. If you pay too much attention to him, they have other players who can pop up and hurt you.
“We beat them 5-0 back in September. It was one of the highlights of our season and we need to play at a similar level to get another win.
“However, that game could have been 7-3. We created loads of chances and took some of them whereas Ayr created a good number of chances and failed to score.
“They were also the better side at their place but we hung in there and earned a 1-1 draw. They haven’t beaten us this season but I don’t think they will be out to prove anything.
“They’ve other and bigger targets to aim for – we are looking to remain right on the edge of the play-off race.”
Naysmith lost one star this week when Gary Harkins asked for his contract to be cancelled and headed for Partick Thistle.
But he’s more interested in the star he has back – 29-goal Stephen Dobbie returning after four weeks out with a hamstring injury.
Naysmith added: “Gary did not want to be here so we move on. Stephen is looking good after his injury but we have still to decide whether to start him or put him on the bench and see how the game goes.”
McCall hopes Ayr are back to their ruthless best after drawing a blank against Dunfermline last weekend.
He said: “We had the two best chances of the game and failed to take them which is not like us.
“Some people were disappointed by the result and dropping off top spot. But I wasn’t too downbeat. It shows how far we’ve come when drawing at East End Park isn’t considered a positive result.”
The last time Ayr had failed to find the net on the road in the league was at Palmerston in September.
McCall added: “The result looks like a comprehensive beating but the game was not like that.
“Palmerston is never an easy venue but we’ll go and attack and if we show the clinical side of our game that’s been great most of the season we can win.” FREDERIC FRANS insists Dundee United are on the right track – and just need promotion to prove it.
United sit third despite a turbulent few months that have seen boss Robbie Neilson replace Csaba Laszlo and new US owner Mark Ogren take over.
Neilson’s hopefuls sit just four points behind leaders Ross County and Frans reckons they’re coping well amid all the changes.
Ahead of today’s trip to Alloa, the Belgian defender said: “With the new owner hopefully we can only improve and be the big club again.
“At the beginning of the season even with all the changes everybody could see there was a lot of quality.
“In the last couple of months we’ve been clicking. And if we keep improving, things can only get better.”
Jim Goodwin admits Neilson has done a good job in turning United’s fortunes around. But the Alloa boss aims to put a spanner in the works as the sides get ready for their fifth meeting this season.
Goodwin said: “United beat us in our most recent game at Tannadice. Their results have improved since Neilson has come in.
“We’ve done well against them – and we know if we get things right tactically, our players are good enough to play against anybody.”