Dundee United Manager Jim Goodwin spoke to the broadcast media to preview our William Hill Premiership clash with Hibernian on Matchday 35.

The Boss’ agenda included bouncing back from disappointment, staying in the fight for third place with a result in the capital, record-breaking season-ticket sales, tasting European action for the first time and more!

ON GETTING LAST WEEK’S RESULT OUT OF OUR SYSTEM

Yeah, I think so. We've had a really good week's training. Obviously, everybody was extremely disappointed with the way the game panned out last weekend. There's no shame in getting beat off of Celtic, but the scoreline was very unlike us as a group. 

Celtic were really on it on the day and unfortunately they had too much for us, but we haven't dwelled on it. We know how important the upcoming four games are and that starts this weekend against at Easter Road.

These big games are the ones you want to be involved in. Had we finished in the bottom half, then you could argue that the games and the fixtures might have been a little bit more easier than what we're going to face now, but that is the reward for finishing in the top six. 

We're going to be playing against really good opposition in every game that we go into. The four teams that we've got to face coming up, we've done really well against all of them throughout the course of the campaign and we want to get back to winning ways and hopefully that'll be on Saturday. 

ON THE CHARACTER OF THE GROUP 

The group has shown all season the type of characters that are within us. We wouldn't be in the position that we're in had we not had strong mentality. Celtic are by far and away the best team in the league. It's not the first time that they've put five goals by a team and I'm pretty sure it won't be the last between now and the end of the season either.

When they are in form, playing the way that they're playing, with the speed that they've got in the team, they're a very difficult team to play against. For the opening 20 minutes, we were actually very good and very much in the game, but good teams eventually figure out a way to break you down and that's what Celtic did. As I said, we haven't focused too much on it from Sunday onwards.

We have a quick debrief on the Monday and then we move on - our season will not be defined by what happened last weekend. Whatever happens from here on out, it'll be a successful campaign for this group of players given that we're a newly promoted team.

The fact that we've put ourselves in this position of being three points off third in the table with four games to go is really exciting for the players and the supporters. 

ON WHETHER TOMORROW’S GAME IS A ‘MUST-WIN’

I wouldn't say it's a must-win, but it's certainly what our attitude is going to be going into it - we want to win the game. I'm sure Hibs will be disappointed that their amazing unbeaten run came to an end last weekend, no doubt they'll want to get back to winning ways as well.

David Gray has done a remarkable job given where they were late last year, November-December time, around about the bottom of the table. To go on the type of run that they went on then was a great credit to him and to those players for bringing themselves right back up the table into the position that they're in. 

We know what to expect. They're a very, very good side. They've got experienced players throughout the team because their recruitment has been very good - they can make like-for-like changes at the drop of a hat. We have to be prepared for every eventuality.

We want to get back to winning ways ourselves and put on a really strong performance. Prior to the Celtic game, we had won our previous three fixtures and kept three clean sheets. Getting back to the basics, I think, after a defeat like last Saturday is really important.

Being defensively solid is important for us. Aberdeen were last weekend and managed to keep a clean sheet against a very good attacking Hibs team. Of course you're hoping that somebody, I don't really care who it is, can step up with a moment of quality to go and win the game. But if it's a scrappy goal, I'll take that too.

ON THE BATTLE FOR THIRD

I'm pretty sure the majority of people out there will probably see us as the underdogs in this fight for third place. I don't think it would be too much of a surprise to see the likes of Hibs and Aberdeen up there competing at that end of the table - it’s where those kind of clubs should be given the resources and the finances that they have available to them.

Aberdeen have spent close to three million this year in transfers, Hibs will be probably in excess of a million. The fact that, with the resources that we've had available to us this season, that we're able to go toe-to-toe with these two teams is a great credit to the squad and to the backroom team that we've been able to stay in the fight.

ON BEING DUBBED THE 'UNDERDOGS'

I don't mind the underdog tag.

We've had good results and performances against both Hibs and Aberdeen this season. We have to believe going into the games that we're capable of winning because we've done it in the past.

It certainly does relieve some of the pressure. But at the same time, we've got every faith and belief in the group that we're capable of getting a result on Saturday and putting ourselves right back in it. 

If we go and win the game tomorrow, then that all of a sudden puts us level on points with Hibs and I don't think I would be too surprised if St Mirren got a result against Aberdeen, given the good form that Stephen Robinson's team is in. 

We're still in the fight - that's all we can ask for and we want to try and make sure that we finish the season off on a really positive footing. We don't want this season just to peter out. We want to stay in the fight for third place and we'll keep going right to the end.

I haven't been involved in European football at club level before and it’s something that I'm desperate to experience, as are the players. You know how much it means to the supporters as well. They would love the chance to support their team abroad somewhere in a competitive game - there's a lot at stake. It adds to the pressure but it's exciting.

ON TEAM NEWS

Ross Graham, unfortunately, will miss out again and Lewis Fiorini comes back into the squad.

ON WHETHER SUMMER TRANSFER BUSINESS WILL RELY ON OUTGOINGS

I've been having really positive conversations with the CEO and the owner regarding the budget for next season. The overspend when we were last in the Scottish Premiership has been well documented and we had to make to make things a bit more sustainable.

We've done that with a lot of hard work, not from me, but from the Chief Executive, the board and the owner in terms of cutting costs to make things a bit easier. I'm not sitting here pleading poverty - I don't think we've got as big a budget as the likes of Hearts, Hibs or Aberdeen, but I would imagine we've got a bit more than others in the league.

To continue to move the club forward, of course, the budget needs to grow with it in order to bring in a better quality of player and that's ultimately what we all want to do in a sensible fashion. 

ON THE SUPPORTERS TURNING OUT TO BACK THE TEAM 

The turnout of supporters that we've had this year has been tremendous - I think we've averaged over 11,000 fans in the home games. We've also smashed the recent season ticket record for the Early Bird sales this week, so it shows that the supporters are there. 

With that, we'll obviously bring more money into the club and European football plays a huge part in that as well. If we can guarantee ourselves some European football this summer, then that will certainly help with the money coming in.

ON OUR TOP-SIX RIVALS STILL HAVING TO FACE THE CHAMPIONS 

We were unfortunate with the way the fixtures fell given what was on the line for Celtic. Knowing Brendan Rodgers and the Celtic players like I do, I know that they will remain professional and want to go and win every game between now and the end of the season.

They've got a number of different records that they're aiming for themselves as a group. Anybody that plays against Celtic will have to be at their best if they're going to get a result against them. We knew all the fixtures were going to be tough - there are no easy games in this league, particularly in the top half of the table.

Share This:

Related News