The recent turnaround in form has been nothing short of remarkable. Before we faced Aberdeen manager Danny Lennon looked a dead man walking. Since then we've managed seven points from three games and things are looking up. It's surely no coincidence things have picked up since we went back to basics, put players in their correct positions and kept faith with a team that has been performing so well. Hopefully we can keep that up tomorrow and keep up the feel good factor - although if our run comes to an end a defeat wouldn't have been as devastating as it would have been a few weeks ago.
For some reason we seem to have a pretty good record against United since Lennon took over. We've only lost to them once - this time last season at home - and have managed to beat them at Tannadice on a couple of occasions. OK, there have been a lot of draws but it's still not bad going against a side that has been in the top six for the past few seasons and you have to wonder why we can't produce that sort of form against other teams - particularly those that end up in the bottom six. Mind you, we're not in a situation where we can pick and choose who we beat so I won't moan too much about that!
Despite our record against the Arabs this will be a pretty tricky match. United are going along quite well at the moment, despite last week's defeat to Aberdeen, and have rattled in a fair number of goals against sides in the bottom six. It's also worth noting that our record against St Johnstone is terrible and we beat them last week, so maybe we'll be on the receiving end of that sort of reversal tomorrow. However, hopefully we can continue to be a bogey team for the Terrors and pick up our third win in a row - something I don't think we've managed in the league for nearly five years!
I'm writing this on Sunday as I'm on holiday at the time you read this so am not really sure who is available and who isn't. Christopher Dilo may have to miss out after coming off worse in a challenge against St Johnstone, the goalie not being too upbeat when posting on Twitter on Saturday night. That should be the only change, although Jim Goodwin may end up in trouble after appearing to knee David Witherspoon last week. At the time of writing nothing has happened but that situation could change.
It's a shame if we do have to change our midfield as it's been terrific of late. Paul McGowan, Kenny McLean and John McGinn are an exciting trio to watch and it was great seeing them go at St Johnstone last week. Hopefully they're allowed to do that tomorrow as having to bring Gary Harkins, Gary Teale or Jake Caprice in could disrupt things a bit. Teale missed out last week with injury but could be back, as could Marc McAusland, but David Barron will miss out once more.
United struggled to get going in the first few games of the season and I began to wonder if Jackie McNamara was the right choice as manager. He'd taken over from Peter Houston at the start of the year after doing well with Partick Thistle, but it was beginning to look as if he was a one season wonder who couldn't transfer his success to the top flight. However, since then things have improved somewhat and you can expect to see the Terrors pushing for a top six place - and possibly a return to Europe - once again this season. McNamara likes his teams to attack so there should be plenty of goals this weekend and a repeat of last week's 4-3 isn't out of the question.
There's been a lot of focus on United's talented youngsters this season and with good reason. The likes of Ryan Gauld, Ryan Dow and John Souttar have been terrific and are proof there is hope for both the future of the Arabs and Scottish football. Most club's fans would rather see youngsters getting a chance and accept they'll make mistakes instead of seeing money wasted on older players (regardless of their nationalities) who don't produce on a regular basis. Gauld has been excellent on the wing and is a great signing in Football Manager, while Dow looks like being the next talented forward to come off the Tannadice production line. Souttar broke through last season with some terrific displays at the back and has been linked with Sunderland. There are other youth academy graduates kicking about but most are out on loan to get experience.
But one youth set-up product is currently on loan at United. David Goodwillie has had a pretty torrid time since he was punted to Blackburn a few years back, barely playing for them and seeing a loan spell at Crystal Palace ended after just a few weeks. He's still relatively young and still has plenty of time to forge himself a decent career, but he almost needs to prove himself all over again during his loan at United. He's already rattled in a hat-trick against Partick Thistle, with Nadir Ciftci also looking a real threat with five goals. How much Brian Graham can provide after spending most of his career in the lower leagues remains to be seen, with Kudus Oyenuga still to get a chance.
Unfortunately for us United are not only good in attack but reasonably solid at the back, although they have leaked a few goals at times. Polish keeper Radoslaw Cierzniak is a decent goalie, while Andrew Robertson looks a real find at leftback after being picked up from Queen's Park in the summer. Keith Watson is good on the right, the pair doing enough to keep Mark Wilson out of the side. The former United fullback returned in the summer after being binned by Bristol City but has yet to make his mark on the season. The arrival of Calum Butcher - who has lived up to his name by making some meaty tackles - helped offset Brian McLean's departure, with Sean Dillon and Gavin Gunning also still around.
While high profile players like Johnny Russell and Jon Daly left during the summer, Gary Mackay-Steven was kept on. It was a surprise nobody made a move for the talented winger, who has a number of tricks in his bag, but United fans wouldn't have cared too much about that. When he's fully fit - which, admittedly, isn't that often - he is a real thorn in the side of any team. McNamara recently decided to bring Morgaro Gomis back to the club, the midfielder having left a couple of years ago to sign for Birmingham before they let him go in the summer. Stuart Armstrong is a goal threat, while John Rankin continues to impress after being ditched by Hibs a few years back, although he did get sent off against us last season. Paul Paton and Chris Erskine followed McNamara from Partick Thistle during the summer and don't look too out of place so far.
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