Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Inverness CT v Dundee United: Darren Jackson says quarter-final is no grudge tie

Jackie McNamara tries to calm Nadir Ciftci during the cup tie in Inverness.
Jackie McNamara tries to calm Nadir Ciftci during the cup tie in Inverness.

Darren Jackson is confident Dundee United can focus fully on football when they face Inverness Caley Thistle in their William Hill Scottish Cup quarter-final.

The first-team coach found himself and his club caught up in a storm of controversy the last time the Tangerines played a cup tie in the Highland capital.

It was back on October 29 in the last eight of the League Cup when United winger Gary Mackay-Steven was sent flying by a Richie Foran challenge near the dugouts.

What followed was a good, old-fashioned rammy that ended with United striker Nadir Ciftci being red-carded, a punishment that was subsequently reduced to a booking.

Ciftci was also ciited for “seizing” assistant referee Gavin Harris by the throat, a charge that was later amended to using an “open hand” to grab the match official.

United were adamant their player was innocent and strongly fought his case.

However, Ciftci was still given a two-game ban, one of which was held over till the end of the season. The involvement of Harris in the matter was why the Tangerines were dismayed and surprised to learn this week that he had been appointed to run the line for the forthcoming fixture at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium between the sides.

There is no suggestion from anyone at United that Harris’s professional integrity will be questioned but surely the wiser option would have been to give the role to another linesman.

Jackson was also cited by the SFA after “Ciftcigate” and eventually censured, but neither fined nor banned, for “leaving the technical area in the absence of special circumstances and by acting in an aggressive manner towards players of the opposing team”.

In the aftermath, it was claimed by Ross Draper, the scorer of ICT’s winner in the last minute of extra-time, that the home team had been more “streetwise” than United.

That may or may not have been the case but Jackson is backing the Tangerines to shrug off any controversy or rough stuff and play their way into the semi-finals on Sunday.

When it was put to him, tongue in cheek, that it was a nice quiet affair last time around, Jackson replied: “Yeah, of course it was.

“To be honest, it was something over nothing really. It shouldn’t have happened and it was disappointing the way we went out of the League Cup.

“Hopefully, we can make up for that.”

Asked if he thought the physical approach of the home team that night meant they were, as Draper claimed, more streetwise than Jackie McNamara’s men, Jackson responded: “I think they used that term but our boys are streetwise when it comes to playing football.

“You have to look after yourselves and make sure you are not getting bullied.

“But going there and playing well that’s what our boys want to do.”

United are confident going into the Sunday lunchtime fixture after beating Hibernian at Easter Road last Friday, whereas ICT are licking their wounds after being hammered 5-0 by Celtic the following day.

Jackson is not sure that will matter though.

“There is a contrast between the clubs’ last results but it is a cup tie so that should not be a factor,” he said.

“It will be a hard game up there as they are a tough side but we go into every game confident. Yes, we went on a wee run there when we weren’t winning but we always believed.

“The atmosphere never really changed at the club. We knew that if we kept going then the results would come for us.”

Youngsters Ryan Gauld and John Souttar will again be missing when the Tangerines travel north. Souttar has an achilles problem and midfielder Gauld has tightness in his lower back.

United boss Jackie McNamara said: “It’s just coming too soon for them so they won’t be involved on Sunday.”

There is also a doubt over Curtis Good after his debut for Australia was cut short by a hip injury. He lasted 68 minutes for the Socceroos in their 4-3 defeat against Ecuador at Millwall before being replaced.