Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Can United do it? You bet they can!
DUNDEE United might just be about to buck a trend and become the first team to get to the Premiership after playing all three promotion play-off rounds.
It’s never been done in the admittedly-short history of these end-of-season games but I think there is every chance the Tangerines will come out on top over two legs against Hamilton.
What makes me feel that is they are the team going in with the momentum.
Yes Accies thumped Dundee on Saturday to avoid automatic relegation but for most of the season they’ve been struggling.
In fact, if it wasn’t for two wins over the Dark Blues in their final six games, they would have been relegated.
And as good as their four goals at the weekend looked, there was always a chance that would happen.
They were the team with something to play for while Dundee were on their holidays.
By way of contrast, United have just gone 10 games unbeaten and most of them were against teams who also had plenty to play for.
I also thought they were excellent in beating Falkirk on Friday night and don’t forget not many people expected them to win that one after drawing the home leg last Tuesday.
That’s something Ray McKinnon should be reminding his players of before the first leg of the final at Tannadice on Thursday.
It would be great to see them taking a lead of a couple of goals down to New Douglas Park for the second leg on Sunday but the main thing has to be they are still in the tie after the home leg.
If it was another draw, it would not be the end of the world.
United will carry a big support in both games, so that could intimidate the Accies players.
And I do tend to think Hamilton would rather have been facing Falkirk than United at this stage.
United have had an up-and-down season, there is no denying that.
But they have some experienced players who are used to big occasions like this and should be able to handle the pressure.
They’ve also got Simon Murray, a striker who is on fire right now.
When you have a player like that up top you always fancy getting a goal and that gives you confidence.