Wilkie backs old club to lay down a marker
It could be a Premiership play-off warm-up. That’s why Lee Wilkie reckons Dundee United should aim to give St Mirren a Scottish Cup scare. Championship titlechasing United are desperate to secure their top-flight return this season after three years in the second tier. With promotion the be-all and end-all, knockout progression next weekend is not necessarily as desirable as it ought to be.
But United’s Cupwinning skipper of 2010 believes dumping Premiership strugglers St Mirren is a must – because it would lay down a marker should a play-off re-run be required in May.
“The league is always going to the priority for United as long as they’re in the Championship,” said Wilkie.
“It’s not where the club should be – everybody knows that.
“But the St Mirren game feels a wee bit different from a normal Cup-tie.
“If United were playing an Aberdeen or a Rangers, or definitely a Celtic, you’d maybe be a bit worried and look at it as a free hit.
“But this is a game against a team that’s struggling at the bottom of the Premiership. “There shouldn’t be much between the sides next week – and I think United have got a chance if they play as well as they can.
“It’s also one where you look at the two league tables and you wonder whether it could be a game we see again at the end of the season. “United obviously want to win automatic promotion – and St Mirren want to avoid finishing bottom. “But if they end up together in the play-offs, the winner of this Cup game will go into it with a psychological advantage, which could be vital.” With a haul of 11 new recruits in the January window, United are now a vastly different outfit to the team that started the season under Csaba Laszlo.
For Wilkie, the quality of one signing in particular bodes well for the rest of the campaign.
“Peter Pawlett is one of those players you look at and think he could be playing at a higher level,” he said.
“The key is making sure he’s as fit as he can be and playing regular football. If that’s the case, you’d have to imagine he’ll be able to rip the Championship up. “Robbie Neilson has strengthened across the park, which shows he’s being backed by the new owners.
“It’s about putting all the pieces together now for a run at promotion, because there’s no doubt that the club has been in the Championship too long.”