The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Allardice wants to kick on from debut
Teen hopes to play part in tonight’s visit by Dunfermline
Scott Allardice endured a bruising battle on his Dundee United debut, but the young midfielder loved every minute of it.
The 19-year-old Dundonian made his first appearance for the Tangerines in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Falkirk and was the victim of a few meaty challenges as well as dishing out one or two tasty ones himself on the way to a booking.
Allardice prefers his football to be about passing rather than tackling but, to his credit, he dug in and was more than a physical match for every Bairns player he came up against.
That adaptability was a sign of maturity in a teenager and now Allardice hopes to kick on.
He is praying he has done enough to persuade manager Ray McKinnon to give him another shot when Dunfermline visit tonight.
The Scotland under-19 international said: “I was delighted to get my chance. “I wasn’t expecting it. “I only got told on the day before the game. “I actually slept OK the night before, certainly better than I thought I would.”
Sean Murdoch insists Dunfermline can still dream of giving themselves a shot at promotion, despite not yet being safe from relegation.
The Pars eased themselves away from the dreaded drop zone in the Championship with a 1-0 Fife derby win over rivals Raith Rovers at the weekend.
It gave the East End Park men an eight-point advantage over secondbottom St Mirren and basement boys Ayr United with just five games remaining in their campaign.
They now travel to face Dundee United knowing a victory tonight could haul them to within six points of their struggling hosts with 12 points still to play for.
With Queen of the South still in the mix in fifth, Murdoch accepts the Pars may have given themselves too much to do to rein in United in fourth.
But the former Hibs and Hamilton Accies keeper is adamant they will keep chasing a play-off place as long as they still have a chance.
The 30-year-old said: “It was a massive, massive game at the weekend because if we had been beaten, and results elsewhere had gone against us, we wouldn’t have been far off the bottom.
“On the flip-side of that and we won, and results went for us, then we would be looking at the play-offs. It’s a complete contrast.
“If we can get a win up at Tannadice then we’ll bring it down to six points with four games left. Then, you never know. It’s still a big ask but you never know.
“As long as it’s still mathematically possible then we’ll give it our all.”
Dunfermline have been beaten just twice in their last 18 league games and were only denied a Scottish Cup quarterfinal berth by a penalty-kicks defeat after a replay against Hamilton Accies.
Twelve draws have cost Allan Johnston’s side the chance to put even more pressure on the top four but they may feel they are due a victory over United after drawing in the last meeting but suffering four previous defeats in the league, Irn-Bru Cup and Betfred Cup.
Murdoch added: “We’ve been on an incredible run but we still can’t get away from that bottom pack.
“If we hadn’t gone on that run then we would have been in that mix at the bottom, so it’s all credit to the manager, and the players as well, that we’ve managed to rack up the points.”
Murdoch was speaking as the SPFL Trust’s ‘Trusted Trophy Tour’ visited Dunfermline on the latest leg of a project to highlight the work of professional clubs in Scotland.