Dundee United Manager Jim Goodwin spoke to the broadcast media ahead of William Hill Premiership Matchday 15 to preview our clash with Kilmarnock.

The boss discussed Sam Dalby's award-winning exploits, our visitors' difficult run of form, team news and Fortress Tannadice.

ON SAM DALBY WINNING WILLIAM HILL PREMIERSHIP PLAYER OF THE MONTH:

I'm delighted for Sam. His commitment to come up to Scotland has been repaid as far as we're concerned. I've got great belief in the big fella, that's why we worked so hard to try and bring him to the club.

His game is suited to the Scottish Premiership. People would look at him and think he's just a 6'3 target man, but he's a lot more than that.

He's technically very good, links the game up well, has decent mobility for a big lad and is always trying to get into the right areas when the ball is in wide areas to try and get on the end of crosses.

He’s scored a lot of important goals for us up to now. He had a great month in November and I'm pleased for him that he's got that recognition.

ON GENERAL PRE-MATCH THOUGHTS:

It's always a difficult game against Kilmarnock. I know they're going through a little bit of a sticky patch at the moment, results haven't been great and they find themselves at the wrong end of the table, but it's still very tight.

You put a couple of wins together and all of a sudden you can find yourselves back up in the mix.

I was at Ibrox and I thought Kilmarnock in the first 45 minutes did quite well. The shape of the team was good and they contained Rangers - there wasn't a whole lot of goalmouth action. I thought in the second half it was very different. Rangers upped the tempo and played with a bit more speed.

The injury to Joe Wright at the back played a part. He's a big player for them, a leader. He suffered a head knock that made him unable to continue. They lost a little bit of shape after that.

Derek McInnes will be looking for a reaction. We know what that's about because we witnessed it ourselves down at Rugby Park. In the last fixture, for 45 minutes we were really good and we had great control of the game.

We were leading at half time and Derek had some harsh words with his players. Then, they came out like a different team in the second 45, turned the game on its head within 15 minutes and found themselves 3-1 in front.

The message has been firmly put to the players that we don't underestimate Kilmarnock. Their form will have to turn at some point and we need to make sure that it's not this weekend against us.

ON WHETHER KILMARNOCK’S DRUBBING WAS THE WORST RESULT FROM A DUNDEE UNITED PERSPECTIVE:

It can work both ways I suppose - nobody wants to be on the end of a 6-0 drubbing.

Confidence-wise, it can have an impact but at the same time knowing Derek like I do. He’s a good experienced manager, and he'll be looking for a reaction from his players.

I’m pretty sure that will be the message before the game and that's what we're expecting. We're planning for Kilmarnock to come flying out of the traps on Saturday. We've been in games like that numerous times already this season.

I liken it to the St Mirren game last Saturday. Quite a physical team, quite a direct team. You've got to do the basics well against them. We also want to perform better than what we did last Saturday.

Albeit we won the game 2-0 in the end and managed to pick up an important three points, I don't think we gave a fair reflection of ourselves in possession of the ball.

We're looking to try and improve from that performance and hopefully, we get another good result.

ON WHETHER HE LOOKS AT THE TABLE CONFIDENT OF CATCHING ABERDEEN AND RANGERS:

I don't look at the table like that and you're trying to put words in my mouth, Tyrone! It would certainly make for good headlines if I said yes to that question. I'm not really focusing on the league table right now. Genuinely, I'm not. It's far too early.

I've been here before as a manager. At my previous club, I was sitting third in the table and then came back after the World Cup break and things went pear-shaped.

You can't underestimate the opposition in this league and you cannot take things for granted. I've got good experienced players within the group that understand that things can happen if you do get complacent. The message is the same week after week after week - take it one game at a time.

We know that there will be a time in the season where we go through a difficult patch ourselves and maybe don't get the results that we want or deserve. It's
how you come through those difficult moments.

At the moment we're doing well. Things are ticking along nicely. We've had to overcome some injuries to important players as well. We've still managed to pick up results without them and that's credit to the group.

We’ll just take it one game at a time. We're coming into this busy schedule now over the festive period. Once that is done then I think you'll have a better reflection of what the league looks like around February.

ON TEAM NEWS:

It will be a similar squad to the one we had against St Mirren. The game will come too soon for Kristijan Trapanovski, Ross Docherty and Craig Sibbald.

We're looking at the middle of January for Craig.

ON THE ABSENCE OF ROSS DOCHERTY:

It's frustrating for everybody. For me as a manager, you want to have your best players available. But it’s been equally frustrating for Ross because he came to Dundee United to play in the Premiership.

He's been one of the best midfielders in the Championship over the last six or seven years and that's why we brought him to the club.

Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to show that consistently due to the injuries that he's suffered. It's a calf strain that he's struggling with at the moment.

We think he's on the right side of it now and he's not too far away but I don't want to put a timescale on it right now because I want to give him as much time as possible. When he does return, hopefully, he's going to stay fit and contribute to the team.

ON KEEPING OUR MOMENTUM GOING GIVEN THE UPTURN IN FORM OF OTHER SIDES:

We don't focus on anybody. We're not looking over our shoulder and we're not looking up - we’re just looking at the next game.

We don't spend too much time dwelling on the previous one. We had a really good result against St Mirren, kept another clean sheet and scored a couple of goals.

But as soon as you get to five o'clock on a Saturday evening, you're moving on to the next one. The next one for us is Kilmarnock.

As I said, Kilmarnock are going through a little bit of a difficult patch at the moment. But I’ve got no doubt with the experience that Derek has got and the level of player that they've got available to them, Kilmarnock will turn it around.

I've got no doubt about that. I said that last week about Hearts and Hibs. I look at the squads that those two teams in particular have got and I'm expecting those teams to start picking up some serious points over the next couple of months as well.

The league is so competitive that there are such fine margins on any day. I felt the first goal against St Mirren was going to be vital. Had they got it, they possibly would have gone on and won the game. We managed to get our noses in front and then defend. That's been pretty much how the league has panned out.

There haven't been too many teams getting ran over the top of regularly. I think you see that from some of the results. We're all capable of beating each other. It just sometimes boils down to what happens on the day. Of late, we've been doing well and there's a lot of confidence within the group.

A lot of individuals are playing well consistently. Everybody's contributed and that's what we'll continue to ask for.

ON THE COMPETITIVE NATURE OF THE SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP:

It's great for the game. I think everybody would agree that Celtic are out on their own at the moment when you look at the recruitment that Brendan Rodgers has done there and the quality of the signings.

We've got seven games in the space of three weeks and, at the moment, we’ve got 19 players available.

If you look at someone like Celtic, they could change the whole XI from a Saturday to a Tuesday, freshen things up and still have the best team in the league. The rest of us don't have that luxury.

We have to work with what we've got available to us and try and get the best out of the group. I don't think there's a great deal between the other 11 teams in the league and I think we've recognised that in the games that we've played.

Everything has been really, really tight. We're happy with what we’ve done up until now - we just need to make sure we can maintain that for the weeks and months ahead.

ON THE SCOTTISH CUP FOURTH ROUND DRAW:

It's a great game. It’s the tie of the round and a really exciting one for the players and for the supporters to look forward to.

We play them before that game as well a couple of weeks before it. It's going to be an interesting fixture, that's for sure - we're all looking forward to it.

ON THE VERSATILITY OF THE SQUAD:

We probably have the smallest squad I would imagine in the league if you sit and look at the numbers available to other teams.

We knew that was going to be the case in the summer and that we were going to have to reduce the budget from what it was last time we were in the Premiership to try and make things more sustainable.

In doing that and reducing the squad numbers, we had to make sure we signed good utility players who can play several different positions.

We've benefited from those types of signings given the kind of injuries that we've had late to the likes of Docherty, Sibbald, Louis Moult, Trapanovski, and Ross Graham.

We've got certain players in the squad that can play two or three different positions and do so really well. That was an important strategy in the recruitment process.

ON TURNING TANNADICE INTO A FORTRESS:

It's really important that you make your home ground a difficult place for opposition players to come - we've certainly done that this year.

Last season it was different. Our away form was excellent and the home form maybe wasn’t where we wanted it to be, but so far this year it's been great.

A lot of that is to do with the great support that we've had from the fans. They’ve been getting behind the team and being really positive. I know that's easily done when your team is winning but we will, as I said to a previous question, have some difficult moments along the way between now and the end of the season.

The supporters are going to play a big part in making sure they're encouraging the team and getting the best out of the players. We need Tannadice to be a difficult venue for opposition teams.

ON WHETHER LUCA STEPHENSON HAS EXCEEDED EXPECTATIONS:

He hasn't to be honest because I knew we were getting a real quality player. We did all the necessary homework that we could do in terms of Luca as an individual and as a character.

Our Head of Recruitment, Michael Cairney, watched him numerous times playing for Barrow. I've watched him plenty of times playing for Liverpool’s Under-23s as well.

He played in midfield coming through the Liverpool academy then went to Barrow in the same position but then found himself playing right wingback due to an injury.

He can play either position really comfortably. He can also play right back in a back four. He's been a breath of fresh air since coming in - his attitude in training is exemplary.

He’s so consistent daily and then on a Saturday when it matters most, he gives you everything he can.

He's also chipped in with some really important goals and he’s just a real team player. I don't think you can have enough of them.

ON WHETHER IT’S DIFFICULT TO KEEP PLAYERS FOCUSED ON THE NEXT GAME WITH TWO DERBIES LOOMING:

We've got a lot of league fixtures before that cup game against Dundee comes around but of course the players were watching the draw. We'd all admit that we're hoping for a nice easy home tie if that could’ve been the case.

But when the Dundee derby comes out, it's a game that's exciting for everybody involved. The players know exactly what that fixture means to the supporters and to the City.

The game we played in the early part of the season was really exciting. We had a full house at Tannadice and I would expect another one at Dens. The game will be live on the TV as well, so it’s a great opportunity for both sets of players to show what a good team they're capable of being.

ON PLAYING SAM DALBY AND LOUIS MOULT UP FRONT TOGETHER:

Both Sam and Louis have played together in a partnership before and have been successful.

Sam has hit a really good run of form with the amount of goals that he's scored and the number of big performances he's had.

We've been flexible as a team all season. We've been playing a 3-4-3, sometimes we've been playing a 3-5-2 and then there’s been times like when we went to Ibrox and changed to a back four.

It's really important that the group can have that flexibility and it’s also good that opposition teams don't know what way you're going to set up from one week to the next so it's very difficult for them to plan and prepare.

To have a striker of Moult's quality available again after the injury that he's had is really important. When Louis was out we only really had Jort van der Sande and Sam. Then, of course, young Owen Stirton came into the fold.

We're pleased to have him, he's an experienced striker, he knows what the league is all about and he's already got himself a couple of goals.

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