Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Goal hero Tillson warns Raith Rovers challenge is ‘not going anywhere’
JORDAN Tillson praised the “spirit” shown by Dundee United in Saturday’s dominant win over Queen’s Park.
The Scottish Championship leaders bounced back from the last-minute heartbreak of the previous weekend against Raith Rovers to return to winning ways.
While comfortable in the end, it took a “patient” approach after United fell behind when a rare error from goalkeeper Jack Walton allowed the prolific Ruari Paton to give Queen’s Park the lead.
Louis Moult brought the Tangerines level with a fantastic free-kick before Tillson nodded them in front.
Glenn Middleton rounded off the scoring after linking up with fellow second-half substitute Alex Greive.
A similar attitude will likely be required for the Championship run-in after Raith followed up their win over United with another away to Ayr, with manager Jim Goodwin challenging his side to go unbeaten over the next fortnight.
“They are not going anywhere,” said Tillson, who joined on loan from Ross County in September.
“They are going to push us all the way and we are going to push them all the way – it is going to be a good battle.
“We can only worry about ourselves and that’s what we’ll do in the next game on Tuesday night against Airdrie.
“It was nice to get off the mark for United and I thought it was a good result in the end.
“It was a tough game and they are a good team, with a good manager who knows what he is doing so we had to dig in today and got a good result.”
Tillson’s first goal for United was an important one, giving Goodwin’s side the lead before the break among a few lovely passages of play that just lacked the finish.
Not only was it a good response to a rare league defeat the week before – their first on the road in the league this season – they had the character to respond to going a goal down in the manner they did.
“That shows the spirit of the lads. There is a real togetherness,” added Tillson.
“You look around when we went 1-0 down and everyone is cheering each other on, geeing each other up and making sure we aren’t getting down.
“I thought our reaction was brilliant. It is one of those where teams come here and make it tough for us.
“It is a difficult place to play when teams sit in and make it hard for you.
“You have to be patient at times and I thought we did that well.
“We mixed the game up, playing longer and shorter – in the end, it paid off.”
The 30-year-old United midfielder hopes to build on this performance and keep his place in a competitive squad.
Much of that will depend on the fitness of Ross Docherty and when he can return to the side.
Whether or not Tillson will be a Dundee United player come next season isn’t something that has been discussed as he and his team-mates focus on more immediate goals.
“It is one of them where we need to get promoted and then the conversations can be had,” said the midfielder.
“I think we are all in the same boat, we all know what we need to do and hopefully we can crack on and get going again.”