Dundee United Manager Jim Goodwin spoke to the broadcast media to preview our Scottish Cup Fifth Round tie against The Spartans.
The boss expressed his satisfaction in a job well done at The Falkirk Stadium, cautioned his charges against complacency as they target a place in the Last Eight and offered an update on team news ahead of a busy schedule throughout the forthcoming weeks.
Watch the full press conference below!
ON A VITAL VICTORY IN FALKIRK
It was a huge three points for us on the back of a poor run that we’ve been on. It was really important for us to get back to winning ways and against a really good team – Falkirk, prior to the game on Saturday, had only had two defeats in nine and both those defeats were against Celtic. That goes to show you the good form that they were in.
I’m really, really pleased with a lot of the performance. There are certain areas within it that we can do better, but it was a fantastic result and hopefully that gives the players plenty of confidence.
It keeps us in the fight for the Top Six. We know that we’ve given ourselves a lot of work to do but had Falkirk won the game on Saturday, then I think we would have been dead and buried. We’ve still got a couple of games in hand on them, albeit those couple of games in hand are against tough teams, but it certainly keeps us alive.
I thought it was a great reaction from the players, given what happened at Easter Road. I called them out after the game with my remarks in terms of questioning that character – I think they responded exactly how I would have hoped.
The character was shown on Saturday to come from behind on a couple of occasions and to find a way to win the game. So it was a great result, but we have to build on it now. That’s the most important thing, is to follow that good performance up with another one tomorrow night.
ON TARGETING A PLACE IN THE QUARTER-FINAL
It’s a huge game for the club and a huge opportunity for us to get to the Quarter-Final of the Scottish Cup. But we have to just really focus on the game in hand tomorrow night against a difficult opponent.
Spartans are having a great season and they have lots of experienced players within the squad. They’ll be coming to Tannadice with no pressure on them whatsoever. But the reality is we’re the Premiership team and the expectancy is there for us to go and get the job done.
We’ve done all our homework on Spartans and we’ve got good scouting reports. We’ve prepared the same way for tomorrow night as we would against any premiership opponent. We respect them, but we’ve got to show why there is that gap between the two teams and be professional.
The standards have got to remain high. We have to start well and if we get our noses in front, then we’ve got to go and kick on again.
ON AVOIDING A CUP UPSET
It’s just about not underestimating the opposition. We can’t expect just to turn up tomorrow and have everything our own way – that’s never going to happen.
It’s got the potential to be a real banana skin tie. And we don’t want to be on the wrong end of any cup shocks. The draw has already been made and we know who we face in the next round – you’re three games away from a potential final.
We’ve already beaten Falkirk yesterday, who we would face in the Quarter-Final if we are to progress. So there shouldn’t be any need for motivation or any other incentives for the players there to go out and put on a show in front of our own supporters.
ON UTILISING A BUSY SCHEDULE TO BUILD MOMENTUM
As a player, it’s exciting and it’s what you look forward to. When I think back to my time as a player, you enjoyed having the midweek games coming thick and fast.
As a manager, it’s slightly different because it means that you’ve got less preparation time in between games, less time to recover. You’ve got to manage the squad as best you can.
But the good thing about having these games coming the way that they are over the next two or three weeks is that it gives you an opportunity to build some momentum.
Winning games of football brings confidence and hopefully we can kick on from the good result at the weekend. The teams in and around us have all managed to put a run of consecutive wins together – that’s made a significant impact on the league table. We haven’t quite done that yet this season.
There’s no better time than the present. Hopefully we can go and win two games back-to-back tomorrow night and take that into the league game against Kilmarnock on Saturday.
ON REBUILDING DEFENSIVE SOLIDITY
Our success last season was built on a solid defensive base – we were a really hard team to play against. Unfortunately this season we’ve conceded far too many goals.
We’ve tried a number of different combinations at the back. Again, on Saturday, there’s a real frustration with the two goals that we conceded. I wouldn’t put it down to the shape or the system. Sometimes it’s just about taking responsibility in and around our own penalty area. We have to show that bit of desire and commitment to get first contact.
The one thing I can never label at this group is their lack of effort or their lack of commitment. They work tirelessly during the week, but that counts for nothing if we don’t perform in front of our supporters.
We’ve spoken about it long and hard about not having to score two and three goals every week to win games of football. So, tomorrow night against Spartans, that’s one thing we will be looking for is a clean sheet.
I always believe we carry a real attacking threat at the other end – I’m confident that we’ll be able to create good chances and score goals. But defensively we have to be better. It’s as simple as that – we’ve got to do our jobs in those key moments.
ON TEAM NEWS
We took a couple of knocks in the game on Saturday – obviously, Kristijan Trapanovski and Luca Stephenson both limped off. Both have had their rehab and we’ve got a few decisions to make with regards to what the starting XI looks like.
