Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Ray delighted with Mikkelsen’s brace
RAY McKinnon hopes striker Thomas Mikkelsen’s brace against Raith Rovers on Saturday will be the first of many for Dundee United.
And although it took the Dane a month to get on the goal trail for the Tangerines, his manager had sensed they were coming.
The man on loan from Odense struck the first and third goals as United blasted Raith away in an eight-minute spell around half-time.
Ray was delighted with that and his overall performance on an evening that saw his team chalk up their first win since Christmas Eve.
“It was good to see Thomas get a couple of goals and I thought the second goal was a fantastic header. I’m delighted for him he’s up and running,” said the gaffer
“When he got here, he was lacking a wee bit of fitness in terms of our standard.
“He has worked very hard over the last couple of weeks to get up to that standard and it has worked out well for him.
“I thought he played well in the game at Dunfermline and he did again against Raith. This time he got his reward with a couple of goals. They were good headers, well taken.”
And Ray has no doubts there are more to come, so long as his team-mates play to the six footer’s strengths.
“He’s a real threat if we give him good service in the box. He was searching for the ball, which was good to see.
“He’s aggressive and put himself about and, like I said, if you get good crosses into the box he will get on the end of them.”
Ray was also impressed with the 27-year-old’s workrate
“He put himself about. He came off near the end because he was knackered — he’d run himself into the ground.”
It was by no means a one-man show and credit went to the team as a whole. In a game where United dominated possession and, once they made the breakthrough on 45 minutes, might have gone on to score more, Ray made a point of praising the defensive work.
“The guys worked hard off the ball which is something we’ve been talking to them about. When Raith counter-attacked we got back quickly and dealt with it.
“Fair play to them and I don’t think Cammy (Bell) had one save to make in the second half. I was delight with the clean sheet and the all-round performance.”