Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
United almost free of injuries
NO manager likes injuries, but Dundee United boss Ray McKinnon believes the string of them he’s had to cope with since the start of the season has shown him he has a strong squad.
As various times this term Lewis Toshney, Willo Flood, Stuart Murdoch, Charlie Telfer and others have found themselves on the sidelines.
Despite that, the Tangerines’ results have continued to improve and t h a t ’s i n c r e a s e d R ay ’s confidence in his squad.
“There was a period there when we were without a whole midfield and at various other points we’ve had others from different parts of the team out.
“But we’ve come through it, which was pretty remarkable, and it j ust shows we have a decent squad there.
“A few players have come in and shown me I can rely on them, and that’s great to know.”
Right now, the injury list at Tannadice continues to decrease and, by the weekend trip to Queen of the South, only midfielder Stewart Murdoch, sidelined since September with a knee ligament injury, should be missing.
That’s because defendercum-midfielder Lewis Toshney has resumed fulltraining and is likely to claim a place on the bench at Palmerston on Saturday.
“He’s done a full session with the rest of the boys and that’s a big boost for us,” Ray added.
“I wouldn’t say he i s match fit yet but it’s brilliant to have him training again.
“He won’t start the game but he will be in the squad and might be involved.”
While Saturday will come too soon for Murdoch, he remains on course to be back challenging for a place in the midfield later in the month.
“He’s also been running and is really pushing himself. He’s battering himself to get back and it won’t be t oo l ong now because he’s getting closer and closer.”
UNITED’S youth team head north to play Lossiemouth on Sunday in the Scottish Cup.