Dundee United boss Jackie McNamara reckons his players will relish the prospect of playing at Hampden this afternoon and urged them to enjoy every minute of the experience.
McNamara has spoken about his side playing with fear in some of their league games of late, but the United manager believes today’s League Cup semi-final at Scotland’s national stadium will provide the perfect platform from which his side can express themselves.
“We were at Hampden for the Scottish Cup semi-final two years ago when Celtic edged us out 4-3 and we’ve been back for another semi-final and a final since then,” he commented.
“It’s a great environment to play in and everyone should enjoy that.
“I’m sure that every kid still dreams of playing and scoring at Hampden in a cup final, never mind the semi, so the big thing for us on Saturday is to get the win which will take us to another cup final.
“There is a difference between expectation and demand and actually handling it.
“For me the biggest thing is the mental side of it and the expectation and fear.
“At the game last week against St Mirren I spoke about it quite a lot the fear in our play and the negativity when we were in good positions and the ball ends up back at our goalkeeper.
“That comes with fear.
“So it is about getting that balance between fear and expectation and handling it and being positive.
“With the younger kids, they sometimes have not experienced that.
“It is a refreshing way of playing.
“They don’t think about the expectation and just go out and play as normal.
“I loved playing at Hampden.
“As a kid you dream of playing at Hampden and scoring in finals and I was fortunate enough to do it at Celtic and win it and there’s no better feeling.
“As a manager you try and pass on your experiences.
“You want them to re-live the moments you had as a player, effectively like a schoolteacher passing on bits of wisdom and belief that helped you along the way, and that’s the satisfaction I get from it.”
McNamara certainly knows what it is like to lift trophies, having done so on numerous occasions throughout his playing career.
Ironically, his first League Cup medal came at United’s expense, when Celtic beat the Tangerines 3-0 at Ibrox in 1997/8, and McNamara himself has won twice as many trophies as the club he now manages if you count Scotland’s top league, the Scottish Cup and the League Cup.
The dominance of the Old Firm over the last few decades means it has been difficult for other teams to get a look in, which is why McNamara will urge his players to seize their chance to get closer to silverware this afternoon.
“The chance to win trophies doesn’t come around all that often so you need to grasp it,” he continued.
“Last season, after Celtic had been knocked out, we didn’t do that.
“Scottish football has changed a hell of a lot in the last five years or so, but the gulf hasn’t become as big as possibly what it should have in terms of resources and quality.
“The gulf is still there in terms of budget and everything else, but the actual quality isn’t as big as what it used to be.
“So this game and getting to a final is really important, and I think our players have handled the big games well this season.
“What people look at is our away form, when we’ve been in winning positions against Partick Thistle and St Johnstone and dropped crucial points which have cost us in terms of our league position.
“We dropped five points there and another two at St Mirren and I think if we could sort that out we’d be in better shape.
“Our home form has been excellent with nine wins out of 11 and the only team that’s beaten us at home are Aberdeen, so we know how difficult it’s going to be in the semi-final.”