United ahead in the chase to win own private battle

Ray Hepburn

20 Jan 1997

Hearts .....................1 Dundee United.......2

MAURICE Malpas was this week preparing Dundee United to stay ahead in the race to win their own private league within the premier division, writes Ray Hepburn.

The Tannadice club on Saturday won their sixth successive game with a 2-1 victory over Hearts at Tynecastle, their best performance in the league for a decade.

Goals from Kjell Olofsson and Ray McKinnon carried United six points clear of Hearts into third place, but Malpas conceded that it is as much as they can achieve.

``Rangers and Celtic are beyond reach, but all the other teams give each other hard games.

We must target third place at the end of the season and, of course, a Scottish Cup run,'' explained former Scotland defender Malpas.

``The big difference our unbeaten run has produced is a massive lift in confidence among the players, after our uncertain start to the season.

Before, our front players weren't scoring frequently enough and that transferred pressure to the defenders, who knew that conceding a goal might mean losing.

``Now, if we lose a goal, we know it's not the end of the world and that, as a team, we can recover, and go on to win the match.'' United started like runaway winners but stuttered when Andy McLaren departed with a nasty-looking knee injury just before half-time, to be replaced by McKinnon.

However, despite enjoying less of the ball in the second half, Tommy McLean's team still looked the better unit, with recent signing Jamie Dolan a controlling influence.

``I feel Jamie has been unfairly tagged as a hard man.

There is clearly a lot more to his game than that,'' added Malpas.

``That was only the second game he has played for us, yet he has slotted into the team smoothly and has a lot more ability than he gets credit for.

He likes to play the ball into wide areas and builds patiently from midfield.

He is a player who has worked hard to improve his game over the years.'' However, the former Motherwell player, who changed clubs with Owen Coyle two weeks ago, had a talented ally in Lars Zetterlund during United's breathtaking start.

He played a superb through pass ahead of Olofsson in 14 minutes and the Swede's right-foot shot beat Gilles Rousset, but he missed two other early chances to kill the game.

John Robertson punished Olofsson's slackness when driving in a goal out of nothing from 20 yards nine minutes later.

That took the Hearts striker to within one of Jimmy Wardhaugh's 206-goal club league record.

McLaren's replacement McKinnon pounced, however, on some unselfish Robbie Winters' work on the United right, to fire in a spectacular winner with only eight minutes remaining.

The defeat underlined that Hearts have lost their home excellence - they have won just one of their last seven home games - but Jim Jefferies believed that his team has been harshly treated.

``We were the better side after the equaliser and totally dominated the second half.

But we lost concentration and were caught on the break, which allowed McKinnon to score,'' he complained.

Only Malpas and Robertson were survivors from United's last league victory at Tynecastle, when the veteran defender headed in the game's only goal, in March 1985.

However, the jinx was laid at a cost for Tommy McLean's side.

McLaren has suffered an injury to his kneecap that will require checks today to assess the extent of the damage.

N Next League matches: Hearts v Rangers (a).

Dundee United v Celtic (h).

TURNING POINT United's formation was disrupted when the pace of Andy McLaren on the right was missing after he was injured close to half-time.

The damage to his knee-cap will be assessed today.

However, Tommy McLean's re-born side displayed versatility when adjusting to the introduction of the more central Ray McKinnon, who scored the winner to consolidate United's place in third spot in the premier division.

Taken from the Herald