The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Mistake will be forgotten
Dundee United’s Polish keeper Rado Ciernzniak was roundly criticised for his howler that led to St Johnstone’s goal against his side on Wednesday night.
His team-mate Farid El Alagui has faith in his abilities and has backed him to put it behind him as the Tangerines face St Mirren at home this weekend.
DUNDEE UNITED forward Farid El Alagui has tipped goalkeeper Rado Cierzniak to bounce back from the blunder which cost his side the Tayside derby in mid-week.
The Pole seemed to have St Johnstone striker Stevie May’s speculative 35-yard effort under control but, much to the horror of the home fans, the ball squirmed underneath him and trickled into the net.
For all United’s chances and penalty claims that followed, the Cierzniak incident proved decisive and denied United a sixth straight victory.
However, El Alagui has urged the Tangerines’ number one to put his howler behind him and focus on tomorrow’s game against St Mirren.
“Obviously Rado was devastated after the game at what happened but we need to support him,” he commented.
“I think we need to remember how good he is for the team and when he has saved the team this season, so we need to back him up.
“He’s still a great, great goalkeeper and mistakes happen during the season for even the best keepers.
“It’s like a striker, when you miss a chance like an open goal or something like that, it’s exactly the same.
“So we need to back him up and I’m sure he’ll be ready for Saturday.
“I think goalkeepers and strikers are the same — they are very different from other players on the pitch because we have our own space on the pitch and there is more pressure.
“I can understand how he felt after the game but he needs to understand that it’s not his fault and this type of thing can happen.
“What he’s done for the team so far, we can’t complain about him and we need to show him how good he is.”
El Alagui was involved in one of Wednesday night’s controversial incidents when he went down in the box after Michael O’Halloran collided with him, although referee Crawford Allan waved away claims for a penalty.
Indeed, United had several claims for a spot-kick in an ill-tempered second half, but El Alagui is already concentrating on the team’s next task in hand.
He continued: “I think the St Johnstone game was frustrating for us, obviously.
“We had good chances to score in both the first and second half but we didn’t take them and we were punished unfortunately with a mistake. So we were very frustrated.
“When you watch the game and you see the chances we created, you can only be frustrated.
“The best thing for us now is that we’ve got a game on Saturday and we’ve got a couple of days to prepare for it properly.
“That’s very good for us because we can’t dwell on the St Johnstone result.
“The best thing is to get back on the pitch, show how good you are and try to win a game.”
El Alagui made a second half appearance as a substitute on Wednesday along with the returning Ryan Gauld, playing his first game since suffering a lower back problem in mid-February.
And the on-loan Brentford striker believes the youngster’s presence can give United a boost ahead of tomorrow’s clash with St Mirren.
“You can see when he came on what he can give you,” he concluded.
“He can give you that extra sparkle you need to turn a game and I think he has come back at the right time for us because it’s the final push and we need everybody fit.”