City rivals should be confident for re-run

MY coaching duties with Dundee United’s kids meant I could only watch Sunday’s derby on TV.

It was great to see it back and I thought it was an entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable game.

And the fact the Betfred Cup second round draw has paired the two again at Dens next week is a bonus.

As big a game as the derby is — even more important for both teams has to be getting off to a good start when their league campaigns kick-off on Saturday.

But once those games are out of the way you can bet Dundee and United will be fully focused on trying to beat each other.

Both will go into the next derby instalment able to take confidence from their performance on Sunday.

I was interested to see Neil McCann come right out after the game and say he felt his team should have won over the 90 minutes.

He was obviously disappointed at missing out on the penalty shoot-out bonus point that would have seen Dundee, not United, top the group.

But he was probably entitled to feel like that, with the possession they had, his team could have won.

For me Dundee’s problem was they didn’t create enough clear-cut chances. That was a problem last season and McCann will not want it cropping up again this term.

As a player there are few things worse than dominating possession but ending up drawing, or even losing, games on a regular basis.

United had to do more defending than Dundee on Sunday, yet I felt they still produced some good football and created some good openings throughout the match.

They were unlucky with a couple of efforts — like when Billy King hit the woodwork in the first half.

And if they have Scott McDonald or one of their other central strikers fit for next week, they might be able to spend a little more time up the park.

I thought McDonald did a good job when he came on late in the game and he is a player who has the quality to get goals — particularly at Championship level.

At 33, United can’t expect him to be playing 90 minutes every week for a team battling for promotion.

He is, though, a player who can still worry defences, both because of his eye for a goal and the clever way he brings others into play.

After a positive showing for Dundee and United both teams will be ready for round two at Dens next Wednesday.