‘Playingfootball’ gameplanstillMcNamara’sway

DUNDEE UNITED boss Jackie McNamara insists there is no “bad blood” between his side and tomorrow’s Scottish Cup opponents St Mirren, writes Neil Robertson.

The last game between the two teams in Paisley, which ended in a 4-1 victory for the Buddies, was a tousy affair, with home skipper Jim Goodwin being substituted before half-time for his own good by manager Danny Lennon following a succession of unsavoury challenges.

Goodwin, though, was later banned for two matches, with his boss unhappy that United had posted a video highlighting the incidents on their social network sites.

McNamara insists that is all in the past and he is focused on a return to winning for his side and a good cup run.

He said: “We need to match any team we play against — first and foremost you must win your individual battle and earn the right to play football.

“We need to do that the same as in any other game.

“My game plan doesn’t change. We will try to win the match playing football and doing things the right way.

“The last meeting was a strange match because we had a lot of chances, even if the scoreline suggest that.

“I still felt it was a game we should have won.

“We won’t have special plan for Goodwin.

“He was a young kid at Celtic with me and he’s a really nice lad.

“I don’t have a problem with him and I don’t set up my team with Jim Goodwin in mind — I set it up the same as every other game.

“There’s no bad blood. A lot of stuff was said at the time about things coming out or our players going down easy but what was shown, not just by us, was that it was the right thing — it was there for

doesn’t any Jim everyone to see after five minutes and Danny took him off first half. It wasn’t something we created.

“There was a lot of talk after the game when we last played but, with what happened there, things didn’t go our way and things happened after the game that were well documented.

“Decisions weren’t given at the time that should have been but what happened won’t add an edge to this game.

“I want to go and play the same way, move the ball and try to cause them problems by playing football.”

McNamara has injury doubts over Gavin Gunning and Mark Wilson.

Picture: SNS Group. Jackie McNamara.