EVERY WORD | JIM GOODWIN PREVIEWS MEETING WITH ROSS COUNTY

Dundee United Manager Jim Goodwin spoke to the broadcast media assembled at the DUFC Training Centre ahead of our William Hill Premiership clash with Ross County.

The boss gave his thoughts on our opponents for Matchday 12, an update on the availability of the squad and emphasised the positive impact a vocal home crowd can have on the outcome of the match!

ON A GENERAL OVERVIEW OF ROSS COUNTY:

Ross County have pretty much slipped under the radar up until now, but I think Don Cowie has done a terrific job.

I was at their game last weekend against St Mirren and they're very well organised, very well drilled. They've got some good players at the top end of the pitch that can cause us problems, we know that.

When we played them in Dingwall they gave us a tough time in the first 45 minutes and we had to make one or two changes to make sure we did better in the second half. 

They're a good side, they've picked up a decent amount of points up to now and I'm pretty sure Don will be very pleased with what he's witnessed at this point in the season. 

They're coming into this game on the back of having two good clean sheets against St Mirren and Hibs in the last two games, so we know it's going to be a tough one. 

But the expectation is there for us being the home team in front of a demanding home support to go and take the game to them. 

ON TAKING LITTLE NOTICE OF THE LEAGUE TABLE:

I think we've just got to take it week-to-week to be honest, We're not too focused on the league table at this point. 

When you get to the first half of the season being over around Christmas, January time, then I think you can take a bit more interest in the league then. For now, we're trying not to get too carried away.

We've performed well, our points return in the opening 11 league games has been very positive. I think most people from a Dundee United perspective would have taken the position that we're in prior to the league starting, given us being the newly promoted team and the amount of new recruits that we had to bring in in the summer.

I think we've ridden our luck at times and there have been other times where we've played really well.

There have been several situations this year where we've had to show good character to come from losing positions to take something from the game. I still think we can improve. We’re coming off the back of a really tough week, with the amount of injuries that we've had, it's been extremely demanding for the group that's been available to us. 

It would be great to finish off this round of fixtures going into the international break still in fourth position. I think that would be fantastic.

ON REFLECTING ON THE SEASON SO FAR:

We had great confidence in the recruitment that we'd done. There was a big turnover of players in the summer and we managed to retain the ones that we wanted who played a big part in getting us promoted last season. 

The league hasn't surprised us in any way. Every single game that we've been involved in has been really tight and competitive, with not a great deal between any of the teams. 

We haven't played Celtic yet. We know how well they're doing at the moment, both domestically and in Europe. That itself throws up a different proposition. 

In all of the games that we've played up to now, we can only judge it on that. We've had some terrific results.

In the last couple of weeks, we've taken four points off Hibs, we had a win at Tynecastle a few weeks back, I think it's the first time in 10 or 11 years since Dundee United have managed that.

Then we were narrowly beaten at Pittodrie and by Rangers. I think the players can be very pleased with what they've done, but I do still believe that there's a lot more to come from us as a group. 

I think when we get the whole squad back , we've got a really competitive squad of players.

ON TEAM NEWS:

Kristijan Trapanovski limped off not long after coming on in the second half last weekend. We deliberately never started him in the game because he'd played a part in the previous two. As I said, three games in a week can be demanding.

We left him on the bench in the hope that he would be able to come on and make a positive impact. He was 100% fit before the game, but unfortunately just tweaked that same hamstring again during the few minutes he was on the pitch. He, unfortunately, will be out this weekend.

We're not going to put a timescale on it just now. I think it's too early to call. Ross Docherty is making good progress, Ross Graham and Louis Moult are as well.

Whether this weekend is too early or not, we'll make that decision tomorrow (Friday). 

Craig Sibbald is the long-term absentee at the moment. We don't have our problems to seek in terms of injuries, but credit to the players who are available and have been available consistently for managing to get the kind of results that we've got. 

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF TAKING THREE POINTS:

Every game we go into, we try and win it. Each team throws up its own different challenges in terms of formations and personnel, but we are the home team on Saturday and we have to be positive from the outset. 

We didn't perform well in the first half last weekend, then we made some changes at half-time that I thought made us better and we were able to get further up the pitch. 

We finished the game strongly and deservedly, I felt, on the day we took a point. 

At home, in front of an expecting crowd, we have to do better. We performed really well in the Motherwell game and unfortunately lost the game 2-1 but played some of our better football of the season on that particular evening. 

We're looking for a repeat performance in terms of possession and the creativity that we showed on that night, we just need to be a little more clinical in front of goal.

Hopefully, that will be enough to get us the result that we want. 

ON SAM DALBY’S CURRENT FORM:

Sam has been great. I think that's three goals now in the last four games. He was unlucky as well to have a goal chalked off in the second half against Hibs - he could be sitting here with four in four.

You want your strikers to be in amongst the goals, it's great for confidence, it's great for the team as well. 

Given that Louis Moult has been out for a number of weeks, there's been a lot asked of Sam and Jort van der Sande in recent weeks. We're really pleased for the big fella.

He's a handful in itself in terms of his physicality and his strength but he's also a really good footballer as well and showed great composure so late on in the game against Hibs at Easter Road. 

ON WHETHER HIS SIDE HAVE SURPRISED OTHERS IN THE LEAGUE:

I don't know whether we've surprised a lot of teams. When people think about Dundee United and they see the badge, I think they expect a club of this size to be up there competing. But when people take a step back and realise the hard work that's been put in to get us in the position that we're in just now, a lot of people behind the scenes deserve a lot of credit.

As I said, we’re newly promoted, we've had to sign 13 new players and to get all of those guys to gel so quickly and adapt to the Scottish game has been remarkable. But we're not getting carried away, believe me.

We know how difficult the challenge is going to be to stay in the top six. I expect Hearts and Hibs both to improve with the quality of players that both those clubs have available to them.

Dundee are right up there and St Mirren will want to get the points on the board to push for that top six again. Ross County, as we touched on, they're right up there along with Motherwell. There's so much still to play for.

If you drop the standards by a couple of percent, then things can change dramatically. We just have to focus on the next game, and that's Ross County. It would be fantastic to get three points to stay in fourth, going into the third international break of the season.

I think that would be a really good return for the players. 

ON THE TABLE EVENING OUT ACROSS THE COURSE OF THE SEASON:

We're all a bit surprised to see Hearts and Hibs down there. Hearts had an incredible season last year. They were the next best team out with Celtic and Rangers. 

I look at the quality and strength and depth that both those teams have got in terms of the squad available to them, and I think they're in a false position if I'm being honest.

I do believe that both those teams will climb the table. We just have to focus on what we can do and just make sure that we keep working hard in training. As I said, it would be nice to get some of those injured lads back in to make it a bit more competitive.

Then in January, we can assess things in when that window comes around and see if there's an opportunity to strengthen in certain areas. 

ON OUR KNACK FOR NETTING IMPORTANT GOALS IN THE CLOSING STAGES AND NEVER GIVING IN: 

It's something that we're trying to create here, that type of culture. We drive that every day in training, whether it's in small-sided games, 5v5s, 8v8s or even in 11v11s.

The team that's losing, we try and encourage them never to give up. You're seeing that happen regularly in the competitive matches at the weekend. 

Don't get me wrong, we don't want to continue to be having to chase games.

I think the first goal in this league is so important. In the last few fixtures we've picked up important points, we've had to come from losing positions. But it is great to have that type of mindset and to have that strength and character.

You need a good team spirit and togetherness. The players have shown that on numerous occasions already.

ON JORT VAN DER SANDE:

I know strikers judge themselves by goals. A lot of people, supporters and media, will judge strikers on goal return. 

But for me as a manager, there's a bit more to that position than just putting the ball in the back of the net. They have to be real team players. They have to work hard for the team out of possession, linking up the game with midfielders. 

Jort, on a couple of occasions in the early part of the season, unselfishly squared a couple along the face for his teammates to tap into an empty net.

The big man could have easily taken those opportunities on himself and got himself up and running. It's that type of personality that I like in the team because there's no ego there. It's an unselfishness for the benefit of the team and that's what's most important to me.

He made a really big impact coming off the bench against Hibs on Saturday. Both him and Sam were a real handful for the defence. Hopefully, if given the opportunity on Saturday, he can continue in that vein against Ross County.

ON DALBY AND VAN DER SANDE OPERATING AS A FRONT PAIR: 

We've only got two strikers available to us at the moment with the injury to Louis Moult. We've been reluctant to start with both in games because, depending on how the game pans out, you then don’t have any other options in the forward area to come onto the pitch. 

We are trying to manage the squad as best we can, but there is the flexibility within it to go with two or sometimes to play with one.

There's been many times this season where we've played with a front three. We've got really good options within the team and that's hopefully keeping the opposition on their toes as well with regards to not knowing what way we're going to start the game. 

ON ROSS COUNTY’S LACK OF GOALMOUTH ACTION:

I think they're really well organised, Ross County. They defend the box well and they get lots

of bodies back in behind the ball. I think being the away team, they'll be quite happy to sit in there in the low block and try and frustrate us and the home support. But we have to just come up with solutions to try and break them down.

They're very dangerous on the counter-attack. They've got good pace and energy in the middle of the park. And they've also got the young lad Ronan Hale at the top end who makes some very clever runs.

We have to be at our best defensively and get back to keeping clean sheets again. Our defensive record is up there with one of the best in the league but I feel we've been shooting ourselves in the foot in recent weeks in terms of the goals that we've conceded.

We need to get back to being ruthless in both boxes. Taking real pride in clean sheets always gives you a good platform to build on. 

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF SUPPORTERS BACKING THE TEAM:

The supporters have been different class all season - we're getting so many through the gates at Tannadice and even on the road they travel in their hundreds.

When I think back to the Hibs game where we were 2-1 down, the reaction within the stadium wasn't a negative one. They really motivated the players, got behind them and drove them on. That positivity coming from the stands can certainly help, especially the younger players within the squad.

We hope to give the supporters something to cheer about. I think as players and as a manager, the onus is on us to excite them and to get them out of their seats to give them something to cheer about.

Any supporter of any team out there wants to see players who are committed to the jersey, players who give everything. That's what we expect to do on Saturday and hopefully, like I said, we can keep a clean sheet and score a couple of goals along the way. 

ON THE THIRD INTERNATIONAL BREAK OF THE SEASON: 

We'll be short of bodies for training next week, given the injuries that we have and the number of players who will be away on international duty. We would expect van der Sande, David Babunski and Richard Odada to be in their respective international squads.

We want the guys to get that international recognition. I think it's good for them as individuals and it's good for us as a club to have Dundee United players out there on the European stage, or on the African stage when it comes to Odada.

It can only be a positive, but of course, as a manager, you're hoping that nothing else happens and that they all come back unscathed from their travels in a good frame of mind to go and kick on in the next competitive game.