Dundee United star Liam Smith reckons St Mirren will be “out to prove a point” at Tannadice tonight following their Betfred Cup heartache.
“They’ll be hurting, that’s for certain. Losing a semi-final when your close to a final will always hurt,” said the United man.
“That might be an advantage to us but equally they’ll be out to prove a point and get back on good results, so we need to be ready for them to come out firing.”
St. Mirren sit just five points behind United, who lie in sixth place in the Premiership, although the Buddies have three games in hand.
Smith, who has caught the eye as an attacking threat in recent weeks, was quick to point out the importance that tonight’s fixture will have to their hopes of a top six place.
“I think they’re maybe the only team that can now overtake us, so we recognise the importance of the game,” he said of Saints, whom United beat 2-1 with help from a Lawrence Shankland stunner last time around at Tannadice.
“If we have our ambitions to finish in the top six then it’s a team we need to take three points off.
“The run of games coming up are going to be big. If we want to do that then we’ve got to take points from them.”
United face St. Mirren, Hibernian, Motherwell, Ross County, Livingston and Kilmarnock in their next six games and Smith knows how vital they could be come the end of the season.
He explained: “You look for maximum points every game you go into but there’s maybe added importance when you’re playing teams round about you, whether that be teams you’re trying to catch above you or the teams that are floating about below you. If you win your games against them then you can always just look up.
“That’s what we’re aiming to do. We are aiming to keep looking forward, keep looking above us, rather than worrying about what’s below us.”
Wins at home are vital
The full back, who recently signed a new contract until 2023, stressed the importance winning home games can have on the table. United have only won four times at Tannadice in the league this season.
“If any team wants to be successful, in any division, you need to make your home games count and take maximum points from teams that come,” he said.
“You want to make Tannadice somewhere that people fear to come. The crowd, obviously, a lot of the time adds to that, the noise that they make. Without that we need to make it a place that people find difficult to come by our performances and we’ll be looking to build on that and do that.”
Smith did admit that, in the current climate, he does not think United will be making any new signings this January, although he wants to hold on to most of the current squad.
“I think with the lack of finances around just now I don’t think we’ll be strengthening,” he admitted.
“But it’s important that we keep the squad intact and, like every team, keep our best players to give us the best possible chance to finish where we want to finish.
“There will be boys that clubs will be interested in, but certainly if I’m being selfish then I want to keep hold of all our best players and give ourselves the best possible chance of finishing in the top six.”