Utd return Tangerines chalk up comfortable success to end winless streak

PLAYERRATINGS

THE Championship promotion race might just be back on.

Dundee United’s first win since Christmas Eve could hardly have been better timed.

Saturday night’s more-than-comfortable 3-0 Tannadice win over Raith Rovers came right after leaders Hibs dropped a surprise two points when they could only scrape a home draw with lowly Ayr United at Easter Road.

It means the gap at the top now stands at six points and, with the Hibees on Scottish Cup duty this weekend, the Tangerines will have a chance to reduce it to just three when they travel to Falkirk on Saturday.

All that sounds good but, for Ray McKinnon’s men, the main reason for smiling right now is they’re back winning. After five games without a victory, that they did so at the weekend was what mattered most.

This certainly won’t be their most memorable success. A professional performance, yes, but not by the most scintillating display of the season.

Until Thomas Mikkelsen grabbed his first United goal right on the stroke of 45 minutes, the first half was forgettable.

Other than Raith losing keeper Kevin Cuthbert to a groin injury just short of the half-hour mark, very little of note had happened.

But when Paul Dixon whipped a loose ball back into the penalty area for Mikkelsen to head home, the Tangerines were up and running.

The advantage was doubled three minutes into the second half by an excellent Tony Andreu finish and, five minutes or so after that, Mikkelsen struck again with an even better header to finish the game as a contest.

After that, United could easily have added a few more as Andreu, Blair Spittal, Simon Murray and new boy Alex Nicholls all went close.

That they didn’t manage to make the final score even more emphatic was no big issue. What was, is the fact they have something to build on again and showed they can win plenty games from now to the end of the campaign.

And if they can keep winning, the pressure will be on Hibs who, despite that famous cup win last year, have had a habit in recent seasons of slipping up in the league when put under pressure.

If that thought provides reasons for optimism, so, too, should several performances on Saturday.

Mikkelsen’s two goals led the way on that score. His height and aerial strength gives United another attacking dimension.

The Dane was also involved in Andreu’s goal as he managed to force another Dixon cross back towards the Frenchman, who controlled the ball well before blasting home. And it should be said Dixon’s delivery into the area for those opening two goals was excellent.

So, too, was his overall performance, comfortably his best since returning from a lengthy injury lay-off in December. With Mikkelsen to aim for in the area, a fit and well Dixon is likely to be a very important player over the next few months.

Of course no one should be getting carried away by just a single victory.

Right now, Raith are a team in dire straits and there will be more difficult opposition to follow.

Winning this week at Falkirk will not be easy and United have gone down there once already this term.

This coming Saturday they will at least head there in confident mood.