Ray praises patience of United fans in Sons win

MANAGER Ray McKinnon has heaped praise on the Dundee United support for staying right behind their team when the going was tough on Saturday.

Arabs had to wait until the second half for the Tangerines to finally move ahead against lowly Dumbarton at Tannadice.

And Ray believes the fans’ patience, plus an understanding of what his team are up against at times in the Championship, was a key factor in securing a 2-1 win.

“I thought the fans were great,” he said. “When it was still 0-0 at half-time, they didn’t get edgy or get on the players’ backs.

“That was a big help and I think they get it that, in this league, at times there will be teams who come here and try to frustrate us.

“That’s what Dumbarton did and, credit to them, they did it well.

“But we stayed patient and got the win and the fans played their part in that.”

United went ahead via a Mark Docherty own goal early in the second half and then quickly added a second through centre-back William Edjenguele.

After that, Ray felt they should have played out the game comfortably and was disappointed his men were made to sweat after Robert Thomson pulled one back for the Sons.

“We got the two-goal cushion and should have seen the game out but we lost a sloppy goal,” he added

“The players were saying it’s offside but it counted and it made for an edgy ending.

“But I’m delighted because that was a banana skin and we’ve come through it.

“We are up to second in the table and it was an important win for us.”

Next up at Tannadice are Falkirk this Saturday and former boss Peter Houston.

United will have centre-half Mark Durnan back from suspension for that one.