Neilson rues lack of ‘final ball’

Dundee United stretched their lead at the top of the Championship to 18 points but manager Robbie Neilson believes it should have been 20, writes Eric Nicolson.

There was no repeat of the Friday night defeat at Alloa earlier in the season but the “final ball” stopped the Tangerines from turning what Neilson felt was a comfortable 0-0 draw into a deserved victory.

“The last time we came here we were turned over,” he said. “I thought we were the dominant team this time.

“We are sitting in a good position in the league.

“Teams are going to come up against us and sit in and look for us to break them down. I thought we played well, we got the ball wide but it was just that final ball.

“I thought we totally dominated the game. It was on a difficult surface, it was windy, you know the way it is. Put us on a grass pitch and we will have better quality but the actual build-up and the way we played was pleasing.”

Rakish Bingham didn’t get a goal on his debut but Neilson was delighted with his contribution.

He said: “For a guy who hasn’t played for a while and is still trying to get his fitness I thought he linked the game very well.

“It will take a bit of time for him to understand the way the team wants to play but there was definite promise there.”

Louis Appere should have been a substitute but wasn’t risked after the warm-up.

“He got a knock yesterday,” Neilson reported. “We had hoped he’d be alright but he was still sore in the warm-up so we decided to take him out.”

The Tangerines boss insisted that there is no danger that their huge advantage over the chasing pack will breed complacency.

“I don’t think so,” he said.

“This is a hard place to come. Alloa have won three out of their last six and alongside side us, are the form team in the league.

“People expect us to come here and win but the important thing is we got another point on the board and put pressure on the other teams. We’ll just keep plugging away.

“We dominated the game and I’m disappointed we didn’t get all three points.”