The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Neilson won’t alter style of play as he backs his defence
Boss admits he is not a fan of “shelling ball out the park” and prefers passing football
Dundee United boss Robbie Neilson admits that the way he wants his team to play is putting extra strain on his centrehalves but the pressure is something they are coping with.
Mark Connolly and Mark Reynolds had a couple of wobbly moments with their passing during the victory over Partick Thistle on Friday night.
However, their manager insists he will continue to accept the odd moment of risk from the duo in preference to just lumping the ball up the park.
Neilson said: “I was really pleased with the centre-halves.
“They had some erratic passes at times but eventually they settled down.
“They are doing the stuff we are wanting them to do.
“They are going to make mistakes and give the ball away but that is just part and parcel of playing football.
“If they don’t do that, you just tend to shell it out of the park all the time.
“So I think it is important that we support them, support the midfielders and full-backs because they are other ones who have to play these risky passes that if they get caught out can cause a bit of edginess.”
Connolly was walking a disciplinary tightrope at Firhill after being booked just 12 minutes into the game.
However, Neilson felt the former Kilmarnock defender coped admirably with everything that was thrown at him.
The manager added: “I thought he did very well.
“First half he got caught a little bit maybe being over-aggressive, trying to win it.
“It is something we work on with him but we ask a lot of him because he can be exposed at times as we want the fullbacks to push on to try to get crosses into the box for the strikers.
“So I was really pleased with him defensively, especially in the last 15 minutes when Partick threw everything at us but we stood up to it.”
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They are going to make mistakes and give the ball away but that is just part and parcel of playing football. ROBBIE NEILSON