Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Fans deserve better admits Utd wideman
AFTER the best part of two months on the sidelines with an ankle injury, Dundee United attacker Blair Spittal is delighted be back.
But at this vital time of the campaign, the 21-year-old knows simply being on the pitch isn’t enough — he and his team-mates must be stepping up to the mark to make sure the Tangerines have the best possible chance of winning promotion.
And pleased as he was to make his return at Queen of the South on Saturday, Spittal knows that was not the case as United went down 4-2.
When he went off in the 3-0 defeat at Falkirk in early February there were fears he’d broken his ankle, meaning his season could be over.
X-rays revealed ligament damage but no break and, while that in itself was bad enough, it meant his absence would be seven weeks.
And with fellow-attacker Scott Fraser seeing his season ended by a broken foot and club captain Sean Dillon also suffering a premature end to his campaign because of an injury similar to Spittal’s, his return is timely for a squad that’s stretched.
After missing seven games and a big chunk of training he’s not yet back to full match fitness but appreciates with such a vital period coming up, he has to be making a contribution.
“I didn’t really expect to be involved at Queen of the South because the Development game last Thursday was my first since the injury,” he said.
“When the gaffer said he wanted me on the bench for the first team I was delighted because you always want to be involved.
“This is an important time and I don’t want to be sitting watching games during this spell.
“I took part i n this week’s Development League game and that’s got my fitness up to something like where it needs to be.”
That should put him in a position to make a telling contribution at firstteam level and he accepts as a group, with the play-offs looming, the United players must now find form.
The Challenge Cup Final win over St Mirren and the victory over Ayr that