McMullan will put others on the spot

Midfielder to step aside if Tangerines awarded a penalty kick against Queens this afternoon

Paul McMullan has bowed to popular demand and agreed not to take the next penalty Dundee United are awarded.

The midfielder put a black mark on an otherwise excellent performance against Dunfermline by hitting the post with a spot-kick that would have put United 3-0 up at East End Park.

They had to be happy with just the two goals, one of which was scored by McMullan and the other created by him for Billy King.

McMullan has received most of his pelters from captain Fraser Fyvie, who had wanted to take the kick himself before giving in to his team-mate’s demands.

He has learned his lesson and will be hiding this afternoon if the Tangerines get a penalty against Queen of the South at Tannadice.

McMullan, asked if he had been getting grief for his miss, said: “Aye, Fyvie has had a chat with me about it…

“Listen, I knew we didn’t have a designated penalty taker so I put myself forward.

“I had scored a goal in the game and set one up so that was why I was confident about taking it.

“Unfortunately, I missed so maybe it’s time to leave it to somebody else.

“Yeah, maybe I should step to the side for a wee while and then think about taking one again sometime in the future.

“It will come back around to me eventually.”

Despite his faux-pas, McMullan was still able to enjoy a comfortable win over his former club.

“It felt really good because Dunfermline are a tough team and to go there and win 2-0 was really pleasing,” he said.

“That comes with the results because you do enjoy it more if you are winning,” he added.

“We are playing a nicer style of football right now.

“We are putting in a lot of work by pressing high but you don’t mind doing that if you can see that you are getting the benefit of it.

“We are not getting carried away, though, because we remember what happened last year when St Mirren started pulling away from us in the league.

“Hopefully, it has a different feel about it this year and we can keep this unbeaten run going for a while.

“All we can really do is pick up as many points as we can and see where that leaves us.

“Hopefully that leaves us at the top of the league, but all you can really do in the meantime is look after yourself.”

This game will see two of the Championship’s finest front players – United’s Pavol Safranko and Stephen Dobbie of Queens – strut their stuff.

McMullan knows Dobbie will be one to watch for the United defence, saying: “When you have someone like him who scores that number of goals you have to look at it.

“You have to see if there is a way that you can stop him getting chances.

“They have other good players as well, so it can’t all be about him, but he is a threat.

“I am sure we will have a game plan.” The Doonhamers will also have to do something to deal with Safranko, who has been looking more and more impressive for the Tangerines.

McMullan added: “Pav has been brilliant.

“He works so hard it’s unbelievable. “Playing in behind him you can see how much effort he puts in.

“When you see how much he runs it almost embarrasses you into working harder yourself.

“He has been really good for us.” Queens head to Tannadice smarting from a home defeat by Morton last week.

Boss Gary Naysmith was disappointed by the result but not the performance and will ask for the same again from his players.

Gary Harkins has not featured since picking up a hamstring injury in the 3-3 draw with Alloa at the start of last month and is a major doubt for today’s game.

l United’s under-18 team beat another of the Elite youth teams last night when an Adam Hutchison header was enough to sink Hearts 1-0.

After an even first half, United took the lead two minutes before the break when Hutchison glanced in a Scott Banks free-kick.

Hearts pressed hard after the interval and Tangerines keeper Fraser Currid saved a penalty kick before producing a one-handed save late on to preserve United’s lead.