The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Shankland tipped to silence critics
Neilson insists United’s 24goal striker has nothing to prove – and backs forward to trouble Hibees defence
Dundee United striker Lawrence Shankland has nothing to prove when he goes up against a top-flight defence.
That is the view of Tangerines manager Robbie Neilson, who is backing his star man to trouble the Hibs’ backline then they visit Tannadice for Sunday’s William Hill Scottish Cup fourth round tie.
Shankland has spent the season answering every question that has been asked of him.
He has repeated his scoring form of last season, confirmed he is more than just a goalscorer, proved he can hit the target at international level for Scotland and overcome a problematic thigh injury.
The forward was on fire at Firhill last weekend when scoring a perfect hat-trick – header, right foot and left foot - in the 4-1 win over Partick Thistle.
All that has ensured that he has come to the attention of other clubs, with Queens Park Rangers only one of several clubs expected to take in the Hibs clash.
No actual bids have been received by United for their prize asset, however, and they remain determined to hang on to him for as long as possible.
Now Shankland faces another challenge: “Can he score against a Premiership club?”
Of course, he has already done so, in the opening match of the season in an away Betfred Cup group section game against Hearts.
Little wonder then, that Neilson said: “I don’t think he needs to silence anybody.
“When you look at his goalscoring record then he can play at any level he wants. He showed that at Tynecastle at the start of the season.
“He scored there and I am sure he will into this game confident he can do it again.
“He is a goalscorer and put him into any team – it doesn’t matter what level you are playing at, whether it is the bottom or top flight – in a position with just a keeper to beat and he will score goals.
“We don’t want to lose him but if he does leave then it has to be the right team for Lawrence. He isn’t going to go to a team who are battling at the wrong end of the league where there are very few chances created.
“He has to go somewhere where teams create chances for him like we are doing here.”
Asked if there had been concrete interest in the player rather than just speculation, the United boss replied: “Not as far as I know, to be honest with you.
“We haven’t had anything put into the club but we will wait and see.
“I don’t think the January window has really kicked off for anybody yet.
“When it does then things will trickle down. What I will say is Lawrence has handled things really well.
“You saw that with his hat-trick last week against Partick Thistle and he just needs to concentrate on the games.”
United’s hosting of Hibs looks to be the pick of the fourth round ties and has the right ingredients of the best Championship side at home to a strong Premiership team.
Neilson is relishing the game, saying: “Hibs have been doing well recently under (manager) Jack Ross.
“It is a good opportunity for us to see where we are in comparison to teams in the top flight.” It is a good marker to see where we are if we do manage to get up.
“In the Championship there are certain games where we don’t need to be 100% for the full game.
“For example, for the Partick match we weren’t really at it for the first 25 to 30 minutes and then we clicked into gear.
“If that happened in the top flight then you could be two or three goals down by that point. From our perspective, it will be a test to see if we can be at it throughout the game.”
Paul McMullan is United’s only injury doubt, with Jamie Robson, Calum Butcher, Ian Harkes and Sam Stanton all training this week.
There will, of course, be no Nicky Clark after he broke his ankle against the Jags.
Neilson said: “First and foremost, we are devastated for Nicky. Having seen it happen we knew it was going to be a bad one. We have got the scans back and he is going to be out for a while now.
“He should get his operation on Thursday and it looks like it will be next season before we see him again. That is disappointing but we have guys who are coming back in.
“Declan Glass has come back from Cove and done well, Peter Pawlett is back training and playing well, Osman Sow also played in a bounce game and we had Chris Mochrie who came on and did well at Firhill, so we have plenty of options in these positions.”