Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
‘Big statement’ sent out by Utd
ROBBI E Ne i lson says Dundee United have sent out “a big statement” to the rest of the C h a mpio n s h i p a f te r their last-gasp 2-1 win over Arbroath.
Lawrence Shankland was the hero as he made it 12 goals in 11 games for the Tangerines as he denied the Red Lichties a famous victory at Tannadice.
After Luke Donnelly’s secondhalf opener for the visitors, the former Ayr marksman levelled the game with two minutes of normal time remaining before nodding home in stoppage time to keep United top of the Championship.
Robbie said: “In my opinion, that is a big statement.
“We’ve won games convincingly and won games where we’ve had to battle and dig it out at the end.
“I’m pleased from Saturday. “I would have liked to have done it more comfortably, as the fans would as well, but a win’s a win.
“It’s three points – we can talk about the result, who it was against and how it was won but nobody cares come the end of the season.
“What it does for us is we know now there is that fighting spirit in the team.
“It can be easy if you get the first two or three goals but to be 1-0 down with two minutes to go and get a 2-1 win is massive.
“It’s going to happen again and we now have the belief in the players we can go and do it.”
After a 2-0 loss to Ayr United the previous week, the Tannadice gaffer was delighted to see that sort of reaction from his side.
He added: “The biggest word for me is belief.
“There will be more days like this, difficult games away from home and we have the belief that we are a good team.
“It’s our job as coaches to get that into the players consistently, it’s hard to do when you are 1-0 down and it’s difficult but you have to keep believing you are going to do it.”
Robbie was also full of praise for the way Arbroath went about the game and he spoke of his respect of boss Dick Campbell and his twin, assistant Ian.
“Arbroath came and made it difficult, they slowed it down. It’s difficult to get in behind them, difficult to get wide of them and they are happy to give it to you in certain areas,” he said. “Believe me, they will be all right this season – they have too much to be down the bottom.”