Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Keep calm and carry on, urges goalie Walton
‘Every time we’ve lost, we have bounced back to win’
EVEN though still on the young side for a goalkeeper, Dundee United’s Jack Walton has experienced promotion.
The on-loan 25-year-old watched on last season as parent club Luton Town won an unlikely spot among the elite of the Premier League.
He did not make an appearance during that fairytale end to the season, but was on the bench a couple of times following the move to Bedfordshire in last year’s January transfer window.
Walton was more involved in Barnsley’s 2019 promotion when he was back-up to captain and Wales cap Adam Davies.
The Tykes finished second in English League One that season, coincidentally behind Luton.
It is enough to give some insight into what is required for the Scottish Championship run-in that sees Dundee United neckand-neck with Raith Rovers at the top of the division.
“The key lessons are that it is a very long season, there are loads of ups and some downs,” said Walton. “You just have to trust in the process.
“It is not about individual games or individual months, it is what you do over the course of nine or 10 months and, 99% of the time, the best team will get promoted.
“So we just have to make sure we stick to what we believe in and the way we do stuff.
“We need to work hard every single day, do everything right on and off the pitch.
“If you can do all that, most of the time you will get your rewards at the end of the season.”
That’s not to say he underestimates the challenge ahead. The Tangerines are coming off the back of another home defeat and face two difficult away fixtures in four days.
Third-placed Partick Thistle are up this afternoon before a trip to Greenock to take on Morton on Tuesday.
“I look at the fixtures and think, ‘That’s not an easy game’,” added the United No 1. “That’s not just up here, that’s football in general.
“When I was in England in League One, you might be playing Cheltenham with only two or three thousand in a small ground, but they will be fighting for their lives.
“Then you might have Derby and there would be 35,000 at a club who would be trying to get promoted.
“So every game of football is difficult – there is no such thing as an easy game.
“At the beginning of the season, you can maybe go on a bit of a bad run, but you can’t now as there aren’t many games left.”
United have suffered four league defeats this season and have responded each time.
They took seven points from nine following their first defeat of the season to Raith and responded with victories after the other two defeats.
The travelling supporters will want more of the same versus Partick Thistle today.
“I know we have that expectation every time we go out to win,” said Walton. “But every time we have been beaten, we have bounced straight back with a result.
“The main thing is probably calmness. We know areas where we can improve.
“We know going into the last 11 games we possibly need to tweak a few things and get back on a winning run.”