Blow for United as strike duo miss crunch clashes
DUNDEE UNITED have been dealt a double striking blow with Osman Sow and Pavol Safranko ruled out of crucial upcoming Championship fixtures.
Swedish ace Sow won’t be ready to face Dunfermline at East End Park tomorrow after injuring his calf in the shock 2-1 defeat at Partick Thistle.
While Safranko has been called up by Slovakia for his country’s forthcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers – leaving United boss Robbie Neilson short on attacking options.
And Neilson, whose men could find themselves 14 points adrift of pacesetters Ross County should they win tonight’s crunch Highland derby, said: “Osman will be out for a week or two, Saturday will be too early for him.
“We’re disappointed not to keep him fit as we’ve worked hard to try to get him there – we only got 20 minutes out of him but you could see his quality.
“It’s just a tight calf. He had it the previous week and we left him out. We brought him back into training but it flared up again during the game.
“I don’t think he’ll be ready for Ross County and if he isn’t we still have Nicky Clark, Matty Smith and a few other options.”
Neilson is urging his hopefuls to bounce back against Pars,who have chalked up five straight league wins of late without losing a single goal.
He said: “Dunfermline have defended really well and picked up 15 out of 15 points so it’s going to be tough down there.
“They have turned it around but we have been down there before and won so I’m confident we can do it again. You have to make sure you take chances.”