Mark knows victory must be earned

ON the coupon, it looks an away banker.

The home team haven’t won in their last five league games, have lost their last three and haven’t been able to muster a single goal in that barren run.

By way of contrast, the visitors are unbeaten in six, have won their last four and in chalking up those victories have kept three clean sheets.

But defender Mark Durnan knows nothing can be taken for granted when he heads south with Dundee United tomorrow to face his old mates at Queen of the South.

Three years plying his trade at Palmerston before he switched to Tannadice in 2015 taught him nobody gets it easy in Dumfries.

That’s something he was proud of as a Doonhamer and, for all their recent troubles, he know the current side are exactly the same.

“When I was there I experienced that. We made it a hard place for teams to go,” said the 23-year-old.

“Queens had some good performances against the bigger clubs like Rangers and Hibs and beat St Mirren in the cup when they were in the Premiership.

“It is a difficult place and some people find it hard to adapt to the astro there, so I knows what to expect.

“Queens had a really good start to the season and they have had a few injuries lately that have hampered them for the last few matches, but they won’t make it easy for us.”

What Durnan also knows is this is a United side brimming with confidence. They can’t wait for the next game, however tough the opposition.

“We’re on a good run and we want to keep it going. You don’t take anything for granted but we believe we can go there and get a result.”

Without question Durnan is in the best form of his time so far at United, but something else he’s not complacent about is his place in the team.

Everyone in Ray McKinnon’s squad is firing and the big centre-half knows if he doesn’t maintain his good work, there are others who can come in and do a job.

That’s why Durnan was relieved when he was recalled for last week’s