Bowman sees United taking chequered flag with title race going to the wire

Less than two seconds separated Hibernian and Dundee United on the track yesterday – and Tannadice legend Dave Bowman fully expects the race for the Championship title to be similarly tight.

However, should the Tangerines take the chequered flag comemay,the52-year-oldwill cite an early bump in the road against Dumbarton as the result that fuelled their push for the finish line.

Bowman is adamant a 1-0 reverse against the Sons in August afforded Ray Mckinnon’s side an immediate crashcourse in Championship football and the Tannadice outfit have subsequently gone through the gears, losing just two matches.

“The biggest thing is momentum,” said Bowman. “In hindsight, although you never want to get beat, we lost to Dumbarton and that was the game that sparked it.

“We were thinking ‘Oh no, we could get beat anywhere’. It was a good eye-opener.

“Ray [Mckinnon] has been through this with Raith, he knew what was required, whereas some of the boys – maybe they needed to experience it themselves.

“It is a case of acclimatising: we are in this league now and we need to battle our way out of it.”

Bowman, a development coach at United, emerged victorious at Knockhill yesterday, posting a lap of 1:12 to better the 1:13.7 of disbelieving Hibs head coach Neil Lennon – something he hopes is a positive portent.

However, with only goal difference separating the sides, he knows there will be plenty of twists and turns to come.

“There is a long, long way to go and both teams definitely have a winning mentality,” added Bowman. “It looks like it will go down to the wire.

“However, this is a much nicer pressure [than last season, when United were relegated from the Premiership]. Down at the bottom, you are thinking ‘we need two wins just to get out of this’.

“It can be demoralising, whereas this year everybody wants to be part of this.”