Deniz eying a weekend of hard graft

MOST of us love a weekend off, to take the chance to put our feet up and escape the grind of the working week for a couple of days.

For Dundee United’s i n-form goalkeeper Deniz, though, his ideal Saturday will see him up bright and early and heading in for work.

Because if he is, it’ll mean the Tangerines will have won tonight’s Premiership play-off quarter-final against Dunfermline at Tannadice.

With the first leg of the semi-final coming against Livingston on Monday night, however, there will be little time for celebration afterwards.

But with the alternative being a long summer holiday that will include plenty ti me to reflect on a disappointing season, starting tonight, Deniz knows which option he prefers.

“One hundred per cent I want to be in at St Andrews in the morning, having a recovery, a light session, whatever it may be, because that means we’ll be preparing for Monday night and Livingston.

“That’s the aim, to keep working for as many games as possible, but we have to take each game as it comes and not be planning too far ahead because we know Dunfermline are a good side.

“They finished the season on a high and it’s going to be a tough job, so we’ve got to be on our best performance to make sure we get through this one.”

Like all of his team-mates, the former Turkish youth international believes United could easily be going into this second leg holding a lead from the opening game on Tuesday.

Against 10 men for the final 35 minutes or so, they created a string of chances but failed to convert them.

It finished goalless but that was also in part down to some excellent goalkeeping from him.

He made several quality stops and, while he was pleased with them, his attitude is simply that it’s what he’s paid for.

“Probably the one in the second half where Fraser Aird has come inside and curled in a shot was the best.