Pre-season United win didn’t count for Daly
JON DALY declined the opportunity to claim the match ball after his hat-trick consigned Dundee to a pre-season defeat and he was not in the mood for bragging, either.
Not only does the Dundee United skipper choose to play down last month’s achievement, he doesn’t yet consider himself to have played in a Tayside derby at all.
More than five years have passed since the Irishman left Hartlepool to join United but, discounting a couple of friendly fixtures, he is yet to experience the charged atmosphere of a competitive clash between Scottish football’s nearest neighbours.
Dens Park may sit across the road from Tannadice but it might as well have been in another country so long have Dundee toiled as a First Division side. And, no matter how many friendly games he has played in, Daly knows today will be the first one to count.
‘It’s been strange not having any derbies,’ he admits. ‘Hearts and Hibs have their game, as did Rangers and Celtic, but we’ve not been in the same division.
‘With Dundee being so close along the road, it’s always in your mind and the banter is always there between the fans, but the friendly games don’t count.
‘We won 3-0 in pre-season but I don’t think that gives us any psychological advantage. From the outside looking in, it’s a convincing score but I don’t think the performance was convincing at all.
‘I didn’t grab the match ball because friendlies mean nothing. These games are all about getting fit.
‘The fact we’ve sold all our tickets shows you this is the game the fans want to see. It’s great that both clubs are in the SPL. It has been a long time coming.’
Asked to name his most vivid derby experience, Daly recalls a moment of controversy which occurred when, as a 21-year-old on loan from Stockport to Grimsby, he found himself in trouble.
‘I’ve not played in many derbies but I do remember the Grimsby v Scunthorpe game,’ he explains. ‘I got sent off in that one. I was a bit younger and probably got caught up in the occasion. ‘It was a straight red. ‘You probably won’t believe me, but I didn’t actually do anything. The boy conned the referee. That’s my story anyway.
‘Obviously, the fans want to see you get stuck in during derby games but if we can keep our composure, hopefully we’ll be able to do what we do best and get the result.’
Having got their SPL campaign off to a flier with a 3-0 demolition of Hibs on the opening weekend, United were put back into cold storage last weekend as Celtic made a trip to Philadelphia to make some money from a friendly against Real Madrid.
The gap might have been an inconvenience but Daly believes it actually benefited United, allowing them time to recover from their hefty Europa League defeat to Dynamo Moscow.
‘Obviously, you want to get your games played but, at the same time, we had a tough trip to Russia, so I think it’s probably worked out well,’ he said. ‘It’s given us time to reflect on the bad result and get over it. In previous seasons, we’ve struggled after European games; a couple of years ago we lost 4-0 to Inverness.
‘By the time the derby kicks off, the Dynamo game will, hopefully, be out of our system.’