The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
United can win more to swell pride
Dundee United’s job is done.
Boasting a sixpoint lead over Raith Rovers with two games left – supplemented by a superior goal difference of 36 – the Tangerines felt emboldened to get their title party started at Tannadice last weekend.
But, with the players now back in training following a weekend of festivities in Dundee and Glasgow, preparation turns to upcoming encounters against Airdrieonians and Partick Thistle.
Jim Goodwin has urged his side to relish a pressurefree denouement to the campaign, while seeking to continue their recent momentum.
And, while their primary goal has been achieved, there are plenty of milestones for Dundee United still to play for, as Courier Sport finds.
BEST POINTS TOTAL SINCE RANGERS
With 71 points, United have already usurped Dundee’s title-winning tally of 63 last term – indeed, so have Raith Rovers (65) – and the 67 points required for Kilmarnock to gain promotion the prior season.
Discounting the atypical campaigns affected by Covid, Goodwin’s charges have already equalled Ross County’s champion total of 2018-19.
One must go back to 2017-18 for a higher return of points, with Jack Ross’s free-flowing St Mirren side racking up 74 on their way back to the top-flight. However, this United team still has two games to play.
Four points from an available six would see them better the Buddies’ total and, in doing so, register the highest points tally of any Championship winner since Rangers in 2015-16 (81 points).
TOP SCORER AND MOST ASSISTS
It would take an almighty effort from Ayr United winger Jamie Murphy to rob Glenn Middleton of his crown as most prolific creator in the Scottish Championship.
With 13 assists to his name, Middleton is a full three ahead of the Honest Men veteran with just two games left to play. Nevertheless, the Tannadice flyer will undoubtedly be hungry to add to his haul in the final fixtures.
But can United make it a double? That would be an altogether more impressive feat.
Partick Thistle talisman Brian Graham has rippled the net 20 times on league duty and, as such, the ageless marksman is firmly in pole position to finish the season as top scorer.
Louis Moult is in second place with 17 and, while time is running out, that is not insurmountable for a striker of his ability who gets the service he has enjoyed in recent weeks.
Allied with the fact Moult is chasing a 20-goal campaign for the first time in his career, don’t expect the former Motherwell hero to slow down during the run-in.
DEFENSIVE RECORD
Barring a couple of blips, United’s backline has been watertight – the foundation of their success.
The Terrors have racked up 18 clean sheets in 34 league games, with the current centre-back partnership of Ross Graham and Sam Mcclelland succeeding in meeting the lofty standards of Declan Gallagher and Kevin Holt.
Not that it has been all about the centre-backs.
The steadiness of Jack Walton, work of Scott Mcmann, Liam Grimshaw and Miller Thomson, allied with boss Goodwin’s insistence that every player has a tireless defensive duty to carry out, has contributed.
And if United can secure another two shutouts – no easy feat, given the attacking prowess of a slick Airdrieonians side and inform Thistle – then their 22 goals conceded will set a 29-year benchmark.
No team has conceded
fewer goals since the second tier restructured to a 36-game season in 199495. St Johnstone, with 23 (1996-97), are the team to beat.
SIX IN A ROW?
United are already enjoying their longest run of consecutive Championship wins this season, with four on the spin.
The imperative to extend that to six in a row is certainly not the same as if the title was still in the balance. Nevertheless it would still be a worthy feat.
That has only occurred once in the last decade, when Robbie Neilson’s side won nine Championship games in a row on their way to the Covid-curtailed title of 2019-20.
Prior to that, Peter Houston’s Tangerines pieced together six successive victories in the Premiership between February 21 and March 31 2012, a sequence that included a 2-1 win over Rangers at Tannadice.
GLENN MIDDLETON
If Middleton features in United’s next two games, he will have taken part in every one of their competitive fixtures this season – the only outfield player to do so.
Jack Walton, predictably, has been ever-present. It is a more common feat for goalkeepers.
However, Middleton could become the first outfield United ace to play in 100% of games since John Rankin in 2011-12.
Before that? Alan Archibald in 2004-05.
It is a rare achievement, particularly for a winger; a position often characterised by inconsistency and fluctuating form.
That statistic certainly speaks to Middleton’s fitness and durability, allied with the end product of his 19 goal contributions in 42 outings.