United take Win all that mattered as Brechin make it difficult at Tannadice

PLAYERRATINGS

FROM a Dundee United point of view there were only three things about Saturday’s win over Brechin worth mentioning.

Scott McDonald’s goal, the fact it proved the winner and the final whistle that brought a merciful end to a drab affair.

You don’t have to take my word for it — gaffer Ray McKinnon pretty much said so in his post-match press conference and it’s hard to imagine anyone watching from the home stands would disagree.

That’s not being harsh on the Tangerines because no team plays as well as they can every week and, even this early in the season, they’ve turned in a few decent performances.

And saying all that is not suggesting the players should have headed home feeling glum, because wins like this are the kind that wins leagues.

Not so much on their own patch, but on the road last season saw United’s below-par performances end with points dropped. In the end it cost them the chance of finishing top and ultimately promotion.

This time out they fulfilled the two requirements of any successful team that has an off day, namely they made sure they kept a clean sheet and in the end found a way to win.

In doing so they maintained their perfect start to the league season. Three wins from the first three outings has left them two points ahead of Dunfermline and already established them as very much as the second tier’s team to beat.

Of course they will want to play better than this. There are plenty of good players in McKinnon’s squad and such men don’t like it when they feel they haven’t reached the levels of which they are capable.

There is also plenty experience in the United dressing room and these guys will appreciate that need to keep winning even on the off days.

And in an off game like this, when in terms of overall performance, United old boy Darren Dods’ Brechin probably deserved a share of the spoils, we shouldn’t be too surprised they managed to carve out a victory.

With quality attackers like McDonald, Billy King, Scott Fraser and others in their ranks, it was impossible to imagine at least one decent opening wouldn’t come their way.

It did with just under 10 minutes left when a fine Stewart Murdoch cross wasn’t controlled properly by sub Patrick N’Koyi. The ball broke to McDonald and he didn’t have to think twice about his good fortune, slamming the ball home from close in.

That, however lacklustre the display, was enough to secure another important win and add to the welcome momentum that’s been built in the opening weeks of league business.

On top of that, even if the result means United don’t need to look for excuses for being off colour, a big plus from this outing was that it represented more game time for the likes of McDonald, James Keatings and Paul Quinn, on his league debut, all of whom are, for a variety of reasons, still fighting to get up to match sharpness.

Having said that, central defender Quinn will be happy with his day’s work. In for William Edjenguele, he turned in a solid performance that showed his arrival will add to the strength in depth at the back.

On a day when the award could have been withdrawn, he gets it for his fighting spirit. Scott McDonald struck United’s winner late-on. 4-4-2: That’s sort of how United lined up, but during the long spells when they were on top, it was more like 4-2-4....