PRESSURE ON UNITED
JOHN ROBERTSON believes Dundee United’s January spending spree has placed huge pressure on them to deliver the title – just as Inverness grapple with hefty losses.
The Highland club are already operating on a lower-end budget in the Ladbrokes Championship but were last night poised to release figures showing an £800,000-plus hole in finances.
Robertson, who has crafted a promotion challenge this season on shoestring funds, has no idea how the financial hit might hurt him and his club’s ambitions in the coming year.
But he remains confident the squad can stay on the tails of big-spending rivals like United, whom they also face in Sunday’s William Hill Scottish Cup last-eight showdown.
United have recruited 11 new faces to add to lavish summer spending and Robertson said: “Pressure is whatever your club’s demands are.
“The amount of money United have spent is way more than double what the likes of ourselves, Ayr United and Morton have spent.
“They have just been bought over and there’s fresh money coming into the club so they’ve gambled on bringing in a lot of players to try to win the title.
“For their title aspirations, Saturday’s draw for them at Falkirk would have been disappointing, but not disastrous by any means. Falkirk are in good form.
“But it will be disappointing, especially in losing a late goal to a set play. As I say United’s focus, for their board, manager and the fans, will be winning the league. In the position they’re in they have every right to think about that.”
United No 2 Gordon Forrest insists their heads won’t be turned by Sunday’s cup clash – because their priority is still promotion.
He said: “We’re purely focused on this game. We can’t look any further ahead. We have to forget about Sunday and we will of course deal with that when it comes. The players know that. As far as we’re concerned it’s on the back-burner.
“The Cup will be a great occasion for the whole club but the league is the main thing. ”
United slipped up by conceding a late equaliser to Falkirk in their 1-1 draw at the weekend but Forrest feels they are still well in the race for the Championship title.
He added: “There’s a long way to go, a few more twists and turns. All we can do is focus on ourselves.”