Dundee United boss Jackie McNamara thinks his team have worked wonders to triumph over adversity by securing a top six spot.
When McNamara took the Tannadice job on at the end of January, chairman Stephen Thompson was reluctant to set too many targets, but gently reminded the new man of the importance of a top half finish.
Some dodgy refereeing decisions and injuries to key men like Johnny Russell and Gavin Gunning have all worked against United on that front in the last few months, but the fact his players will line-up against Motherwell post-split tpleases McNamara no end.
“It’s great to be in the top six after everything,” he explained.
“The circumstances and the way things have went since we came in, the different breaks with Johnny and Gav, it’s been disappointing, but I think the lads deserve great credit for the way they have responded. They have got themselves mentally strong and have adapted really well and their performance in Sunday’s Scottish Cup semi-final showed that as well. I’m delighted with them.
“After the Celtic game the boys were a bit down, but I said to them that they’ve shown everybody they can play that level and they need to sustain that and keep that level of performance and desire in the remaining games.
“Sometimes you learn more from mistakes, and I think we learned a lot from the game at Celtic Park when we lost 6-2.
“I think everybody could see the difference, how we have learned from that, and they can learn from their experience on Sunday and get better for it.”
United will be without striker Johnny Russell for their post-split opener at home to Motherwell, while Keith Watson is also struggling through injury.
Nevertheless, McNamara is confident his side can repeat the kind of performance they put on at Fir Park in February, when they recorded a 1-0 success over the Steelmen.
“It was good performance the last time we played them,” he noted.
“We won 1-0, but I thought we looked very dangerous on the night.
“Obviously Johnny Russell was playing and scored the goal, so he will be a big loss for us on Friday, but the players have shown they can handle things like that and hopefully Friday will be the same.”