Injuries and suspensions give Mckinnon a striking crisis ahead of opener
0 Paul Mcmullan: Makeshift. Dundee United are facing a striking crisis ahead of this weekend’s Championship opener away to Inverness Caley Thistle.
Freshfromsunday’sdramatic derby penalty shootout win over Dundee in the Betfred Cup, Ray Mckinnon’s men are without a recognised forward for their curtain-raising trip to the Highlands.
Mckinnon was forced to use winger Paul Mcmullan as a central striker because of new signing Scott Mcdonald’s fitness woes and injuries to James Keatings, Patrick N’koyi and Matty Smith. The title-chasing Tangerines look set to have no choice other than to use Mcmullan in the same makeshift forward role on Saturday.
Former Celtic star Mcdonald and youngster Smith both have bans carried over from last season, while Keatings is outforanothertwoweekswith damaged ankle ligaments.
Even if N’koyi recovers from a muscle problem, his lack of fitness means he would get a place on the bench at least.
But Mcmullan’s performance in the derby win is the one consolation for United.
Mckinnonsaid:“we’veasked Paul to do a job because of the situation with the other strikers. He did it well against Dundee and showed he can do it.” Celtic have confirmed they will reopen the Green Brigade section of their stadium after Saturday’s league opener – but some fans will remain suspended.
The club announced a two-game closure of a 900-capacity section of the safe-standing area at Celtic Park for their Champions League home tie against Rosenborg last week and the Ladbrokes Premiership visit of Hearts on Saturday following “serious incidents of unsafe behaviour” at their previous two home fixtures.
Fans in the area housing the Green Brigade ultrasstyle group held a pyrotechnic display in the final Parkhead game of last season and Celtic were fined around £20,000 by Uefa for “blocked stairways” and “illicit banner” charges relating to the European game against Linfield. A club statement revealed the majority of season-ticket holders would be readmitted after the Hearts game. It added: “The club is now in the process of writing to those supporters to inform them of this decision and to confirm the control measures which are in place to allow the area to be reopened and operated safely by the club.
“We fully understand that this has been a difficult period for those affected. However, the decision was taken amid serious safety concerns. The club is continuing to investigate events from the matches against Hearts and Linfield and a number of fans within this area remain suspended.” l Partick Thistle have signed Coventry City defender Jordan Turnbull on a season-long loan deal.
Turnbull, 22, joined Coventry on a three-year contract last summer from Southampton for an undisclosed fee, but had a clause in his contract that he could leave following City’s relegation to League 2 and Thistle have swooped.
The left-sided defender is a former England youth international and had two seasons on loan at Swindon before leaving Southampton, playing almost 100 first-team games for the Robins.