City youngster close to sealing Tannadice loan

UNITED: Bolton to be Mellon’s first senior signing for club

Dundee United expect to complete the loan signing of Manchester City wide player Luke Bolton today.

New manager Micky Mellon chatted to the 20-year-old at the weekend as the Tangerines drew 1-1 with Kilmarnock in their final friendly of the summer.

The competitive action kicks off against

St Johnstone in the Premiership curtainraiser at Tannadice on Saturday and Bolton should be available for that one.

Bolton, pictured, can play as either a winger or a full-back and spent most of last season on loan at Luton Town.

He will be Mellon’s first senior since taking over as boss from Neilson. signing Robbie

Meanwhile, the Tangerines gaffer will have one watchword for his players this week as they prepare to face Saints: tempo.

United started the Killie friendly brilliantly, opening the scoring in under a minute through Cammy Smith.

However, they were caught out by a Greg Kiltie goal for the visitors just after the break as Killie picked up the pace following the restart.

Mellon said: “I thought in the first half we were excellent and probably should have had a few more goals, if I’m being honest.

“We lost a bit of a sloppy goal early in the second half, which kind of killed the momentum a little bit.

“To be fair to Kilmarnock, they showed us a tempo that we have to get used to playing against.

“That’s good because that’s what you want at this stage of the season – to learn as much as you can. We spoke about that in there with the boys. When the tempo ups, we are playing at a higher level now so have to meet it.

“Certainly, the start of the second half against Kilmarnock is something we are going to have to learn from.

“We have a great group of lads and they understand that.

“I am sure the next time we start a second half we will be ready to deal with the tempo of the game. Tempo is the thing that we are going to have to get used to.

“The level sides like Killie operate at is much greater than it was last season for our players.”

In saying that, Mellon was pleased with the way his men eventually recovered from losing the leveller.

He added: “We hung in there and dug in. We changed a few things ourselves and got back into it and it became an even game again.

“All in all, it was a really worthwhile run-out for us.

“We did show for long periods in the game that we can play at a good tempo ourselves.

“We now have a good week’s training to fine-tune things and get organised for that all-important first game of the season.”

Asked if he feels his men are ready to take on Saints, he replied: “We’ll need to be.

“We have done all we can to be ready.

“We have had some good games – some real tests – and have found out all we need to know about the group.

“We are excited but we will, calmly, as the days go by, get the players prepared for that opening game of the season.”

Today, of course, could be a big day off the pitch for United, with the results of the SFA arbitration process regarding Hearts and Partick Thistle’s attempt to block their promotion expected to be announced.