There’s work, there’s hard work and then there’s what new Dundee United hero Pavol Safranko does.
The weekend victory saw the Slovakian given a standing ovation from Arabs as he hobbled off in time added on of the win at Dunfermline.
Fit as he is, that he went down with cramp in the dying minutes could have come as no surprise, so much ground had he covered during the 90-plus minutes.
And the 23-year-old admits so long as Tangerines fans keep turning up in big numbers and give the team the backing they do, he’s more than happy to run himself into the ground for them.
When he arrived on a season-long loan from Danes Aalborg in the final weeks of Csaba Laszlo’s time as manager, Safranko admitted he knew very little about Scottish football.
His intention was to learn about the opposition as he went about getting goals for United and, in any case, from the day he arrived he’s pointed out his attitude was the most important part of his game has always been concentrating on what he does best.
Four goals in his 10 United appearances so far, not to mention a few near misses, have suggested a big part of that is putting the ball in the back of the net.
For him, though, working his socks off for every minute of the 90 is a must and he’s delighted to do it for a support he’s quickly come to appreciate.
“I always believe you must work hard for the team and this is what I will always do on the pitch,” he said.
“What you need to do is whatever it takes to help win matches and that should be how you play.”
A feature of his performance down at East End Park was the number of times he chased balls it seemed clear he had no chance of reaching.
To his mind, though, there is no such thing as a lost cause and that’s apparent by his play.
“If I see the ball and think I cannot get to it, I know there is still the possibility that if I run hard, it will mean the defender or goalkeeper has less time to do something with it.
“So even if I do not get to the ball, if he kicks it to one of my team or out for a throw-in, then I know I have helped the team.”
The fact United fans have quickly taken to that attitude is something that delights him and he promises to repay their support with continued hard graft.
“I was tired at the end of the game and when I had to come off the fans were amazing.
“They were singing my name and, when I hear that, it is something that means so much to me.”
And even without the ovation he was given, Safranko admits the effort he puts into every 90 minutes is a given.
“When I look at supporters I always think of myself being where they are in the stand and about what I would want to see the players in my team do.
“This is one of the reasons I always work so hard and it is a big part of my game.
“And I must say it is easy to do for the fans at Dundee United.
“In my first game, when the team had not been doing so well, there were 600 at Queen of the South.
“I could not believe so many would travel so far to see the team.
“Then when we played the game at Partick Thistle there were even more of them and now at Dunfermline we have had almost 2,000 of our fans at the game.
“Playing in this game was not like we were away, our fans were so good.
“It felt like a home game for us because they were making so much noise.
“As players, it makes us want to do very well for them, get the team to where they want it to be. We aim to do that.”
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