Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Utd players same page
BY all accounts Dundee United have not had their problems to seek this season but, after an extended break, Tam Scobbie believes they are all, finally, singing off the same hymn sheet.
When boss Csaba Laszlo took the reins at Tannadice in November, United experienced an immediate upturn in fortunes.
Struggling to race clear at the top of the Championship under Ray McKinnon, the Hungarian came in and galvanised the club.
He brought a brand of football, and results with it, which saw United top the second-tier pile in mid-December.
Buoyed by a 3-0 home win over Livingston before Christmas, United soon fell 2-0 to St Mirren six days later.
With that they relinquished their grip on top spot and have since not looked like closing the 14-point gap to return to the Championship summit.
However, Scobbie believes their trip to the Tony Macaroni Arena tonight represents an opportunity for the Terrors to enjoy a change in the tide after almost a month without league action.
“We’ve had a good number of weeks’ training under our belts with the break,” he said.
“It’s given us a few days off to recharge the batteries so everyone is raring to go.
“The boys are in good spirits with the training at a high tempo so, hopefully, we can take that into games coming up.
“We need to look after ourselves physically with the games, having three in the week, but I think mentally all the boys are on the same page in knowing that this run could be really massive and pivotal in terms of our season.”
Scobbie admits they still aim to catch St Mirren in first place but know they must first get over a tricky hurdle in Livingston.
The Lions have been in good form of late and downed the Buddies 4-1 at Almondvale on Saturday.
They sit three points ahead of the Terrors and have promotion ambitions of their own.
The defender added: “St Mirren are obviously in the driving seat, they had a slip-up on Saturday but they’re still well in front.
“All we can do is focus on the games we have coming up, we play them a week today. It’s going to be a massive