Celtic face Motherwell in Betfred Cup last 16
United boss targets instant return to top tier
MOTHERWELL were handed a tough trip to Celtic Park in the standout tie of the last 16 of the Betfred Cup. Mark McGhee’s men will travel to take on Brendan Rodgers’ side with matches in the new-look League Cup scheduled to be played on August 9 and 10. After Rangers topped Group F with a 100 per cent record, Mark Warburton’s side will now host Peterhead. The last 16 sees Scotland’s European representatives enter the tournament and in addition to Celtic’s home tie against the Steelmen, Neil Lennon’s Hibs will host Queen of the South, while Hearts will face St Johnstone in Perth. Aberdeen face a lengthy midweek trip to face Ian McCall’s Ayr United. Dundee United were the last team to book their place and they will face Premiership side Partick Thistle.
DunDEE united boss Ray McKinnon last night saluted his side for reaching the last 16 of the Betfred Cup — then insisted they are ready to secure a top-flight return.
The Tannadice club secured the last available place in the next round by seeing off Championship rivals Dunfermline with second-half goals from Simon Murray and Scott Fraser in this televised affair.
The new-look Tangerines have endured a summer of hell after being relegated at the home of their city foes Dundee back in early May, but McKinnon’s arrival at the helm has brought back the feelgood factor to the resurgent Tayside club.
And the united manager believes his troops are all geared up for the fight to regain Premiership status, which begins at home to Queen of the South this weekend.
McKinnon, whose side face Partick Thistle in the next round at Tannadice, said: ‘It sets us up nicely for the start of the league.
‘I think it was important for the fans to see a couple of home wins in the cup at Tannadice. We would rather be going into it with victories than defeats.
‘The boys have done well considering we’ve had to change the mentality over the summer by going out and winning games.
‘I think the objective was to qualify from the group and we’ve done that. We had to keep the tempo up because Dunfermline are a decent side.
‘They worked extremely hard and made it difficult for us, so it was up to us to keep going for the entire 90 minutes.
‘That’s our message to the players for the rest of the season. We need to earn every point in this league campaign.
‘And when we get chances, we’ve got to take them in this league because it’s very tough.
‘We’ll look forward to the Partick Thistle tie. They’re a league above us — we’ll show them every respect.’
The home team settled quicker and wasted no time in going for the jugular
As early as the fourth minute, winger Tope Obadeyi released Fraser, whose whipped cross was blocked by visiting keeper David Hutton as Murray waited to pounce.
Shortly after, Dunfermline’s Rhys McCabe was guilty of a short back-pass which Murray latched on to, but his effort was brilliantly saved by Hutton who raced off his line to deny the hosts an early breakthrough.
Then, in 16 minutes, Fraser went on a solo run as the Pars’ defence backed off and his shot from outside the penalty area whistled just over.
Cammy Bell had been a virtual spectator up until then but he was called into action when Dunfermline defender Ben Richards-Everton rose to meet Kallum Higginbotham’s corner — and the united keeper saved comfortably from the header.
On 38 minutes, the Pars had a penalty claim turned down.
united defender Lewis Toshney appeared to clip winger Joe Cardle as he entered the danger area but referee John McKendrick waved play on.
The hosts deservedly went ahead within four minutes of the restart. Jamie Robson’s cross was nodded on by Obadeyi and Murray headed home from eight yards.
united sealed matters with seven minutes remaining when Fraser curled a delightful 22-yard free-kick high into the net.
Pars boss Allan Johnston said: ‘We know we are better than that. I know we can pass the ball better and I don’t think we did that enough.
‘We were sloppy at times and probably never worked their goalkeeper enough.’