Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Utd boss insists football’ is way
DUNDEE United will persist with “have-a-go” football despite shipping eight goals in their last two matches.
Manager Micky Mellon did try to get his players to press Rangers high up the park at Ibrox last Saturday, while they enjoyed 67% possession at Kilmarnock in their previous game. They ended up losing both fixtures 4-0.
Nevertheless, Mellon has ordered his players not to go into their shell but instead open up against St Mirren when they visit Tannadice this weekend.
He said: “What we are trying to do here is build a team that has moved up a level to go for it in every game they play.
“What I am trying to produce here is quite simple, which is have-a-go football.
“That is what we will continue to do – coach have-a-go football. That is what I like to see and I know the Dundee United fans like to see.
“There is no doubt that we will have to get better at have-a-go football.
“That keeps it simple for everybody,” added Mellon.
“We know there are areas that we need to improve upon if we’re going to play the way we want to.
“We are working really hard on that. As we go along, we will have the relevant training sessions, the relevant meetings, and watch the games and see the bits we absolutely know we’ve got to get better at.
“We never said at the start of the season that we didn’t believe we had to improve.
“Even if the scorelines were the other way around, we would still be looking for improvement. You have to see where you can take it to.
“We know where we are at and will continue to try and get better in all areas of the pitch while continuing to play have-a-go football.
“We won’t be sitting back and getting dictated to.
“We suffer from the result on Saturday but we come away from that and we are looking to improve.”
Mellon all but confirmed fit-again frontman Lawrence Shankland will start against the Buddies, while midfielder Paul McMullan also got a name-check from the manager and could be in the line-up.
Ryan Edwards will also be available after the SFA decided not to take retrospective action against him for his challenge on Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos, while Mellon reported that fellow-central defender Mark Connolly is making progress with his ankle problem.
The United gaffer said: “We’ve got people coming back now, which is always important.
“We still have one or two who won’t be available for the weekend but we’re moving in the right direction now.
“Lawrence will be back, while Mark Connolly has made good progress in the last two days.
“We had a bounce game here