I’m happy to be front & centre
McNulty in right place to make difference
MARC McNULTY landed the leadingman role he’s always longed for.
But after being placed front and centre against Hamilton, he just wishes he’d been playing the part much sooner.
As Dundee United secured Premiership safety, the on-loan Reading striker fired only his third goal of the campaign after being deployed in a deeper wide midfield position for much of the season.
And McNulty attempted a diplomatic dig at boss Micky Mellon for the delay in being given the chance to prove he can form a potent partnership with Scotland hitman Lawrence Shankland.
He said: “I need to choose my words carefully but it’s good for me to be in the centre of the pitch. It was good to get back on the scoresheet. It’s been hard for me to get goals this season but this was all about securing the club’s status in this division so to win the game was brilliant.
“Being used up front makes a difference, of course. I don’t want to seem as though I’m moaning every week about being played out of position but it was typical that, when I was at the top end here, I managed to score.
“One of the reasons I joined the club was Shanks had done so well there. The manager had said we’d work together but we’ve changed shape so often we haven’t really worked together much at all.
“You could see, in spells, we linked up pretty well. Neither of us had the best of games but there’s definitely something there and I’m sure the more we play together the better we’ll become.”
For the opening half an hour, McNulty and Shankland combined to harass Hamilton and dovetailed potently but it was a self-inflicted wound that allowed United to take a sixth minute lead.
Accies keeper Kyle Gourlay’s poor goalkick was punished clinically.
And McNulty said: “The goal was exactly the kind of gift you want as a striker – to prey on a bad pass, as Jeando
Fuchs did when he slipped me in. I was delighted to get the goal.”
After that initial spell of dominance from the Taysiders, it was Hamilton who asserted control and despite racking up an incredible 27 efforts on goal they failed to get themselves back on level terms.
A combination of wastefulness and bad luck was again the story for Brian Rice’s side who need to find a way to take some reward away from games where they’re the better side, which was the case on Saturday.
Time and again the build-up was impressive only for lines to be fluffed where it mattered most and when you are sitting at the foot of the table, artistic impression becomes secondary.
Mellon’s men at times rode their luck and despite spells of intricate possession play, were eventually pushed back onto the backfoot.
United keeper Benjamin Siegrist was the busier keeper as he denied Scott McMann twice as well as being let off the hook by poor finishing as Hakeem Odoffin, Kyle Munro and Ross Callachan all passed up decent opportunities.
Odoffin’s late trip on Louis Appere went unpunished as well as Peter Pawlett’s push on McMann inside the box at the death.
McNulty reckons his set-too with Aaron Martin was “nothing, really, handbags” and admitted he gave referee Bobby Madden a flea in his ear. He added: “I did tell Bobby at the final whistle he’d had a nightmare.”