Strong Utd hammer Dee in wee derby

A V E RY strong Du ndee Un ited reserves were ruthless at Dens Park as they dispatched a youthful Dundee 7-0 in the wee derby.

The Tangerines put out a Championship-quality starting XI against a Dark Blues side that ended with seven U/18s in their team.

By half-time it was 4-0 with Paul Watson (left), Aidan Nesbitt, Paul McMullan and Rachid Bouhenna netting.

And they didn’t let up in the second with Nesbitt, Matty Smith and substitute Scott Banks finishing the scoring in a most one-sided of contests.

Dundee’s most experienced men were keeper Elliott Parish, defender Darren O’Dea and midfielder Andreas Hadenius.

Meanwhile, United boss Robbie Neilson expects Mark Reynolds to be on duty at Queen of the South on Saturday, despite his issues with plastic pitches.

The defender needed major surgery last summer after hurting a knee in a pre-season game on the synthetic surface at Cove Rangers. He’s since said he’s not keen about playing on them in the future.

“We are having a conversation with Mark and he knows you need to play,” said Robbie.

“When you play in Scottish football you have to play on astro, that’s just the way it is.

“Mark has trained on it a few times with us and is comfortable with it.

“We will train towards the end of the week on astro again and then make a call on it.

“His knee is in great condition but we have to make sure it’s right for him.

“He has been fine on it so far and I think he’ll be fine.

“Mark’s played 400-odd games. He knows what you have to do to get through a game.”