United’s award-winning form must continue

Dundee United manager Mixu Paatelainen admits his team might have to win more awards this season to realise their ambitions for a rapidly improving campaign, writes Eric

Nicolson.

The Tangerines may be bottom of the Premiership, but it is a sign of their improvement that Paatelainen was selected as the Ladbrokes manager of the month for February and Paul Paton was named the player of the month.

And March has got off to a flying start, with an impressive Scottish Cup quarter-final win against Ross County.

The Finn, whose team will face either Hibs or Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the semi-final, said: “It’s a sign that last month we did well and hopefully we can carry that on.

“It won’t be easy but performances have improved, results have improved and that gives us hope.

“Of course it’s nice to realise that we have done better and this motivates us even more.

“We want to do well enough this season to survive. We have a long way to go but there’s a sign that we are taking right steps forward.

“In order to survive this season, I think we need to do so well that we would be considered in the future for acknowledgements like this.

“But, who knows? We just concentrate on working hard and making sure that we give every chance to ensure results stay as they have been and get even better.”

Mixu Paatelainen: manager of the month.