Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Graham losing youngster tag as United boss hails impact of defender
JIM Goodwin insists Ross Graham has come of age for Dundee United.
Graham, 23, turned in an outstanding showing against Raith Rovers last weekend, deputising for the injured Kevin Holt with aplomb in a comfortable 2-0 triumph.
It was the academy graduate’s 18th outing of the campaign and 55th senior appearance for United – with 30 of those coming in the Premiership.
As such, Goodwin is adamant Graham’s dominant display should come as no surprise and reckons the former Scotland Under-21 international should no longer be perceived as a promising youngster.
Rather, a reliable senior regular. “Ross is not a young lad anymore,” said Goodwin.
“Sometimes, when you come through academies at clubs you are labelled with that ‘academy player’ tag for a while. But Ross has played 30 games in the Premiership for Dundee United.
“He has played a hell of a lot of first-team football, overall, so there are no concerns with him.
“Ross has just been a little bit unlucky with how Kevin Holt has done on that left side at centrehalf. But Ross had his opportunity again and he certainly grasped it along with Sam (McClelland).”
Goodwin confirmed that, as of yesterday afternoon, United were yet to receive the results from Declan Gallagher’s visit to a specialist this week. However, the experienced defender will be absent for this weekend’s trip to Queen’s Park.
“Unfortunately, Declan is still in a lot of discomfort,” added Goodwin.
“It is kind of back-related and then into the groin area as well.
“But Ross Graham and Sam McClelland did brilliantly on
Saturday and I am hoping for a similar level of performance from those guys.”
Meanwhile, it’s been “business as usual” for Dundee United, according to manager Jim Goodwin.
That is despite opening up a four-point gap at the top of the Scottish Championship with a crucial win over Raith Rovers.
Ian Murray’s men have a game in hand but that still leaves
United in control of their own destiny.
The first of their five remaining matches takes place tomorrow against Queen’s Park at Hampden and Goodwin said his side are keeping a level head.
“There was no over-celebration after the game on Saturday. It was just another three points as far as we were concerned,” he said.
Looking ahead to this weekend, he added: “We don’t have to change a great deal from what we worked on prior to the Raith game.
“We’re just hoping for a similar level of performance.”
The United boss also spoke about how the fixture schedule for the run-in could impact the title race.
Tomorrow will be the last time Raith and Dundee United play at the same time until the final day of the season.