The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
United will go for it despite being behind, claims Murdoch
Dundee United will go all out to win the game and not just defend their lead when they face Greenock Morton at Tannadice.
That was the promise from right-back Stewart Murdoch as he prepared for tonight’s Premiership play-off quarterfinal second leg against Jim Duffy’s men.
United brought a 2-1 lead back home with them from Cappielow on Tuesday and are strong favourites to go through to the next stage to face Falkirk.
However, Murdoch stressed that they won’t be sitting back trying to protect that advantage.
Instead, they will be going for more goals in a bid to put the tie out of Morton’s reach as soon as possible.
He said: “We have to go out to win the game. If you set up to try to defend the lead you leave yourself open to them coming at you and maybe scoring in the first five minutes.
“That would mean your game plan would go straight out the window.
“That was what happened in the Champions League match, with Atletico putting pressure on Real with their early goals. So you have to go and kill the tie as quickly as possible.
“We had to chase the game a bit on Tuesday because we weren’t expecting to lose such an early goal but we battled back well. We were delighted to get the win but there were definitely no celebrations.
“Even when we went 2-1 up we had to think about either seeing the time out or push for another goal. We kept going for it and almost got a third.”
Murdoch and his team-mates have certainly seen enough of the Greenock side this season to know that they will make life tough for them this evening.
“We know we have another big job on our hands,” he said.
“They need to come here and win the game so it will be another difficult match. Morton have shown this season that they can compete with anyone on their day.
“So there is no foregone conclusion that we are going to get through just because we have a good record at Tannadice.
“It is going to be difficult because they will throw everything at us.
“They need to come here and win the game. We have to stand up to that.”
The home record mentioned by Murdoch is indeed impressive.
Their one defeat in all competitions on their own pitch was a 1-0 loss to eventual champions Hibs back in March, when the Tangerines played for an hour with only 10 men.