McNamara urges side to toughen up for title
JACKIE McNAMARA believes Dundee United can challenge for their first Scottish Premiership title in 32 years — if they can copy the mental toughness of rivals Aberdeen.
In recent weeks, the Tannadice side has staked a claim as championship challengers by beating the Parkhead side 2-1 and dishing out an historic 6-2 derby drubbing to Dundee. But, between those fine home wins, United have dropped five vital points in away fixtures, losing 2-1 at St Johnstone and drawing 2-2 at Partick Thistle.
By contrast, McNamara has watched with admiration and envy as Derek McInnes’ Dons have racked up seven consecutive wins with no goals conceded to go top of the table.
Despite these setbacks, United remain in striking distance, five behind the leaders and four behind Celtic, who have a game in hand.
And McNamara believes if his side can marry Aberdeen’s ruthless attitude to United’s own thrilling attacking football, the Tayside club will be in contention to add to their only top-flight title, which was won under Jim McLean in 1982-83. ‘I don’t think our problem is inconsistency,’ said the United boss. ‘ It’ s more a l ack of concentration and dealing with situations.
‘ It’s not about our play because being inconsistent means one week you have too many players who are great and then the next week they are poor. But I think our problem comes when t hings don’t go r i ght in certain points of games.
‘Against St Johnstone, we were comfortable but then we lost a goal to a free header in the box, just as we did against Partick Thistle. That saw us lose our way and our shape, as again happened at Firhill, and also our discipline in a way, because then we think we have to go and score straight away.
‘We were all over the place chasing that goal. We were disjointed at Firhill and I think we showed fear.
‘But, against Dundee, it was different because we went on to get the third goal and that built our confidence. We put it together after that. So maybe it’s more about mental strength for us.
‘If you look at Aberdeen, you see them grinding out results. They can get the 1-0 victories because they don’t really give anything away.
‘They don’t give goals away through silly mistakes, and, as a result, you don’t see them punished.
‘Teams have chances against them, like Inverness recently, who carved out bits and bobs against them and played well. But Aberdeen showed strength to keep the opposition out. They have been resolute.
‘But, if we find that mental strength, too, there’s no reason why we can’t challenge.’
If United have aspirations to push Aberdeen and Celtic all the way, they can’t afford a third successive awayday setback against a Hamilton side that sits third, one point above McNamara’s men.
He knows they will have to bring their A-game against Accies, who thumped f i ve without reply in their own New Year’s demolition derby against Motherwell at New Douglas Park. ‘Hamilton are a side that can really punish you, so we really need to improve on our display at Firhill,’ he said.
‘We all saw that when Accies played Motherwell the other week. They are a very hungry side and they are very hard-working, too. When we go there, we will need to match that hunger if we want to get anything.
‘Firhill was really frustrating for me because I thought after 25 minutes we would be convincing winners. But the little spell after that in the first half cost us a couple of points.
‘We will need to be on song for 90 minutes against Hamilton.’
McNamara will be without John Souttar for the next few weeks after the young defender suffered a setback with his ankle injury. Fellow defender Callum Morris is also likely to miss out on Monday with calf and Achilles problems.
But United will welcome back holding midfielder Paul Paton after his controversial two- match ban f or ‘ spitting’. The Northern Ireland international was banned despite his alleged victim, Aberdeen winger Jonny Hayes, insisting on social media that no such incident occurred.
Afterwards, McNamara said he had lost faith in the ‘flawed’ SFA disciplinary process and branded it a ‘pantomime’. But he used the 27-year-old’s absence to his benefit as it allowed Paton to resolve an injury problem.
‘Paul Paton is back training this week after that suspension,’ he said. ‘When he got the ban, we thought it would be wise to give him a wee injection in his knee. That has been an ongoing thing with Paul this season and it was the ideal chance to get him rested. Now he’s back and ready for Monday.’