Smith working hard to earn starting berth

Cammy Smith is confident he is doing all he can in order to catch the e ye of Dundee United manager Micky Mellon.

Smith has been on the edge of things since Mellon arrived at Ta n n a d i c e , making five appearances as a substitute.

He has also seen the club recruit another attacking player in the form of Marc McNulty, who joined on loan from Reading.

However, Smith certainly made an impact on the Betfred Cup group game aga inst Brech in on Wednesday night, scoring twice in the Tangerines’ 6-2 victory at Glebe Park.

He has also been keeping himself as fit as possible and pushed himself in training.

Now he hopes to stay in the spot l ight when Peterhead visit Tannadice today in the cup.

Smith said:

“It wa s pleasing goals.

“It was my first time on the pitch for a while so it was good to contribute.

“I have been doing everything I can to keep myself right.

“I started the season well and I felt I had a good pre-season but I haven’t been on the pitch as much as I would like, obviously.

“I just had to be patient but I got a wee go on Wednesday night, when I to get a couple of came on chance.

“I feel all the substitutes have been doing all they can when they come on.

“It is not easy sitting on the bench e ver y week but we all push each other on.

“You can’t do much apart from wait for the chance to get on the pitch and then you know it is up to yourself.” and took my

Smith revealed he has chatted to Mellon about his lack of game time and has been asked to be patient. He said: “Every player wants to contribute as much as they can and that’s the case with me.

“It is frustrating and hard. You just have to get your head down and keep going. I had a conversation with the manager and he has told me just to keep going – there isn’t much to it.

“You want the game time and there are probably another 10 or 11 in my position.

“We could probably put out another team with the size of squad but everyone just has to work hard and then it’s up to the manager.”

Smith would love a Betfred Cup run and he sees no reason why the Tangerines can’t go far in the competition.

He said: “I grew up seeing Dundee United doing well in the c up competitions.

“United have always done well, gotten to cup finals and won cups. For the size of club we are we should be looking to have a good cup run.

“There is no we can’t.”

United are likely to give McNulty more time to get game-ready, which could be good news for Smith.

Tangerines boss Mellon said: “Marc is a wee bit behind in fitness but we are giving him a sort of microwave pre-season to get him up to speed.

“He has not done as much as the other players so far, so we have to get reason why him ready. He is a fit lad and is sharp so we will continue to do that in the coming days.”

Me l lon was very respectful of today’s visitors Pe t e r h e a d , who are managed by United legend Jim McInally.

“Peterhead are a good club with a good manager,” said Mellon.

“Ji m is the longestserving in the country so he knows his club inside out and he knows Dundee United well.

“We are looking forward to it and to being back at Tannadice again.

“The game gives us the opportunity to keep growing as a team and keep moving forward.”

Peterhead defender Gary Mackenzie, meanwhile, reckons his side’s visit to Tannadice to face Dundee United cannot be any more different to his last trip to Tayside.

Mackenzie was part of a St Mirren side desperate to keep ho ld of the ir Premiership place that pitched up for the first leg of a play-off against United back in May 2019 and the one-time Dundee stopper knows the atmosphere this afternoon will be nothing like that game.

The 34- year- old, who headed north in the summer, said: “That game was a really pressurised one. The crowd was a bit frantic and the game was as well, before finishing goalless.

“This one will be very different as there will be no crowd there and there is little expectation on us.

“The play-offs ended up OK for St Mirren in the second leg but Dundee United have done really well since then.

“They have started their season in decent shape under Micky Mellon and he has them playing some good stuff.”

This is the first game of the season for the Blue Toon and Mackenzie is wary of the Terrors giving his side the runaround in what will be their twelfth match of the new campaign.

He said: “I have spoken to a couple of players who have faced United this season in the Premiership and they have told me that they are a fit side.

“We are not going into it with a lot of game time under our belts but we will try to match them through our organisation.”

Ma c k e n z i e ’s former Pa is ley team -ma te Lawrence Shankland will be missing from United’s attack due to Scotland duty but the defender doesn’t reckon that weakens Mellon’s side.

He explained: “Lawrence has done brilliantly over the past few years but United scored six without him the other night at Brechin.

“Nicky Clark is a really sharp striker so we will need to be as organised and disciplined as possible.”

Defender Gary Mackenzie.