United have bank balance advantage, says Naysmith

Queen of the South manager Gary Naysmith reckons beating the Tannadice men has been made all the more difficult as their manager Robbie Neilson did not have to balance the books in January.

The Doonhamers play host to United tomorrow and are looking to kickstart their promotion push after two defeats.

Naysmith said: “Robbie has a good record with United and that is not a surprise as he is a good manager.

“He is proven at this level, has the experience of working at a couple of big clubs and he was also quite fortunate in the transfer window last month as he was not working under the same restraints everyone else was.”

Investment from new American owner Mark Orgen meant Neilson was playing a different recruitment game, with Naysmith explaining: “Robbie was able to bring players in regardless if players were going out.

“He has been able to build a brand new team without losing a team. That does not generally happen in the Championship, where you have to balance the books.”

“As you would expect he did it well and they are building momentum, with wins over Morton and then St Mirren.

“I went to Paisley and they were far, far better than St Mirren in the first half.

“The sending-off of Calum Butcher changed things and St Mirren were on top in the second half.”

Naysmith, however, is not raising a white flag, adding: “Against the teams at the top end of the table we have held our own, with the exception of United.

“We have taken more points off Ross County, Ayr and Inverness Caledonian Thistle then they have from us. However, United have the better record.”

“We have a good home record, it is a big game and our players will not need lifted for it. They are above us in the table and we want to close the gap.

“We have had two defeats in a row in the league and I have not lost three in a row while I have been at Queens and we do not want that to happen now.”