BHOYS .... 0 GIRLS ..... 1
United ace Ian wants a Celts win – but only for his wife in women’s final
DUNDEE UNITED star Ian Harkes is hoping for a silver-lined Celtic win this weekend but not for their men’s team.
The United star will face the Hoops at Tannadice tomorrow and will be doing everything in his power to help Tam Courts’ team cause an upset.
Harkes will then be keeping his fingers crossed that wife Sarah comes out on top when Celtic face Glasgow City at Firhill in the Scottish Women’s Professional League Cup Final.
He said: “She isn’t even worried about me.
“She has a cup final with the women and she is worrying about herself.”
American midfielder Harkes scored the goal that earned United a point at Parkhead earlier this season and is hoping they can go one better and get another big home win after toppling Rangers in August.
The 26-year-old said: “You can take confidence from that game.
“We always get up for these games but we know the quality they bring and the respect will be there.”
Storm Arwen has damaged Tannadice so the Jerry Kerr Main Stand will be out of commission tomorrow.
That will see fewer Celtic fans than normal inside the ground and Harkes is hoping the United support can now raise the rest of the Tannadice roof.
He said: “The crowds have been huge coming back in this season and it has given us a lift going into these massive games.
“It is good just to have their presence at every game. I enjoyed my season in the Championship and now there is more on the line in the bigger games and you can kind of feel that. It is a huge part of that.”
Harkes is out of contract in the summer and is already attracting interest from a bigger club.
He is still in talks with United over an extension and for the moment his focus is on getting back to winning ways after the midweek defeat at Motherwell.
The former DC United player said: “I normally let my agent handle that stuff.
Things will be going back and forth and we will see where it takes us.
“I just want to keep playing and I am enjoying it at United. Some of the performances have really been special and we are playing a good brand of football.
“We would like to respond after Motherwell. We weren’t happy with ourselves at all because that was an important three points.
“We just need to focus on Celtic and that is what we are doing.” United head coach Courts is pleased with where his team are sitting but accepts there is still room for improvement after they missed a major opportunity at Fir Park. Courts expects Celtic and Rangers to pull away from the rest but wants his troops to keep them close for as long as they can. He said: “We would have taken this position at the start of the season. That is where the frustration lies because if we had won on Tuesday then we would have been sitting third right now.
“Eventually you will see the Old Firm moving ahead but that’s the frustration of Scottish football that it’s a two-horse race.
“I look at Hearts and Hibs and the managers have been able to assemble teams that can keep pace for a bit longer.
“We are still early in our journey for doing that but with a few more transfer windows and building the squad and playing style, we’d want to hang on a bit longer.”