Courts expects it to be a little bit frosty in Dingwall
TAM COURTS admits he isn’t expecting a warm welcome when he takes his Dundee United side to Ross County this weekend.
The United boss was criticised when he displayed a ‘Show Racism The Red Card’ T-shirt on the sidelines in support of Jeando Fuchs after the United star claimed he had been racially abused by a visiting fan when the sides last met at Tannadice.
County chief executive Steven Ferguson described Courts’ actions as potential incitement.
An investigation by the football authorities later cleared County fans of any racial abuse but Courts doesn’t expect the Dingwall crowd to have forgotten his role in the incident back in early October.
The United gaffer said: “I can imagine the reception might be a little bit frosty.
“But we need to make sure we focus on the job in hand.
“With three games in a week, it’s really important that we don’t get distracted.
“We said what we said about that (Jeando Fuchs incident) but the key thing now is to remember we are going up there to play a football match. We are there to enjoy the players. We want back-to-back victories and to make this a big and important week with some crucial wins.
“That starts on Saturday at Dingwall for us.”
Fuchs is struggling with a leg injury but Courts will have no qualms about starting the midfielder if he is fit.
He added: “Jeando had his boots on at training which is good.
“He’s a really quick healer so there’s no need to be concerned about multiple weeks out.
“He’s pushing for the weekend but we’ll give him until the last minute as he is such an important player. A lot of time has lapsed since that game. I don’t think Jeando has any concerns about going up to Ross County at all.”
Courts, who revealed that striker Marc McNulty could be back quicker than expected from his hamstring injury, watched County beat Hibs on Wednesday and knows that the Staggies will want to build on that.
He claimed: “Hibs had just won the semi-final against Rangers but Ross County were well deserving of their victory. They could even have scored more.
“They’ll see it as a breakthrough moment – beating a top side.”