The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Clark confident United will gel for league push
Nicky Clark is confident Dundee United’s poor start to competitive action will soon be forgotten once the Championship campaign begins in earnest.
The former Rangers and Dunfermline striker took full responsibility for failing to tuck away a potentially match-winning penalty against Ross County on Tuesday.
Scott Fox’s remarkable late double save, with a stunning recovery to block Clark’s rebound attempt, was a prelude to a Jamie Lindsay winner for the Staggies.
Defeat in Dingwall piled pressure on manager Csaba Laszlo and left the Tannadice club’s Betfred Cup group qualification hopes hanging by a thread following Saturday’s less-than-impressive draw with League One Arbroath.
But Clark stressed it was too early to judge a squad featuring 10 new signings and expressed confidence the team would be ready for the league campaign kicking off in just over a fortnight.
The 27-year-old, who left Dunfermline to sign a two-year deal with United in the summer, said: “Tuesday night was one of those games that could easily have gone either way.
“For the penalty, I’ve got to score it. I’m really disappointed and I take full responsibility.
“To be fair, it was an unbelievable save from Scott Fox on the rebound – I don’t know how he got to it.
“It just wasn’t to be for me on the night, but I’m a striker, I go again. A setback like that won’t hold me back.
“In terms of where we stand, we can only take the positives from the evening in terms of a better all-round performance than against Arbroath.
“We played better, got the ball forward quicker and used it better. From that perspective, there was progress.
“But the most important aspect in football is getting three points and we never managed it.”
Clark admits progress to the second round of the League Cup will be tough now but feels certain the gelling process is already under way.
He stressed: “The County defeat leaves us in a difficult position in the group and shows there is still a lot of work to be done.
“There are obviously a lot of new faces who have come into the club.
“We knew, even before Saturday, it would take time for us all to gel together.
“But there is a lot of talent in the squad and these Betfred Cup games are a good way of bringing it together.
“I’m sure by the time the league campaign starts we’ll be ready and raring to go.”
Clark expects County, already broadly listed as joint favourites with United and Partick Thistle, to be Championship contenders.
He added: “Ross County, I’m sure, will be one of the teams up there in the Championship this season.
“But we will just concentrate on ourselves.
“We know what our objective is this season and we will do our best not to let anyone stop us from achieving it.”