McKinnon keeping his formation plan a secret

United boss refuses to show his hand to Morton counterpart ahead of second leg

Dundee United manager Ray McKinnon will keep Morton guessing as to his formation for tonight’s crunch clash.

It was McKinnon’s decision to move Simon Murray from wide left to a central forward role that transformed Tuesday’s play-off quarter-final at Cappielow.

United had struggled to hurt the Greenock side in front of goal in a first half that saw them play poorly and fall 1-0 behind.

However, after the break, the 4-2-3-1 became a 4-4-2 as Murray teamed up with Thomas Mikkelsen in a two-man attack and scored a wonderful equaliser before Blair Spittal secured the 2-1 first-leg lead.

McKinnon is expected to pair up Murray and Mikkelsen from the start tonight – but wasn’t about to show his hand to Ton boss Jim Duffy.

He said: “There is a reason why we played that system on Tuesday but we obviously had to change it. We might go back to our usual formation but I think I will keep Jim guessing, if that’s possible with my squad! You just want your players in the right areas and right positions and that’s really important. However, there are circumstances that change things.

For example, to combat Tony Andreu the other night Morton sat Jamie Lindsay right on top of him. They really crowded that area so we couldn’t get Tony into the areas we wanted him to be in.

“So, for different reasons, we moved Tony and Simon around and it paid off.

“We have a bigger park at Tannadice so we can play nice football at home.

“We might play Tony in the number 10 role again but we’ll see.”

Willo Flood, so influential along with Wato Kuate in the middle of the park for United on Tuesday, has a thigh problem but is expected to be OK.

McKinnon confirmed: “Willo has a sore thigh so we need to monitor him and see how he is but our fingers are crossed.”

There is also a doubt over left-back Jamie Robson, who hurt his ribs while playing against Morton in the final league game last Saturday.

The United boss added: “Jamie has a niggle in the back of his rib and he was struggling a bit going into the midweek game. He felt it going into the match but I think it might be something he can play with.”

Scott Fraser could just be a whisker away from playing, having been out with a broken foot since the match against St Mirren on March 15.

McKinnon said: “Scott is back in training. He has not done much but he is kicking a ball at least and, you never know, we might get 15 minutes out of him somewhere.”

The United gaffer feels his players are both physically and mentally ready for tonight’s test.

He said: “It is an incredibly quick turnaround – even I’m still tired! – but I think they will all be fine. They are fit and they are strong – they proved that in the game on Tuesday. There is no point in working on fitness now because that’s already there. It’s all about recovery and sharpness.”

Tickets for the game have been selling well and a crowd in excess of 6,000 is expected.

Pictures: SNS Group. Simon Murray, top, could be paired up front again with Tomas Mikkelsen – but boss Ray McKinnon, above, is playing his cards close to his chest.