As he’s got himself fit, adjusted to the rigours of Scottish football and got used to the kind of hectic schedule he’s never previously experienced, in-form Dundee United striker Thomas Mikkelsen has revealed, at times, it’s been a case of less is more.
When he joined the Tangerines on loan from Odense in January, the Dane was in the middle of his country’s winter shutdown and had just returned from a holiday in Africa when he went straight into the squad for a crunch game at Hibs.
That meant for his brief appearance in that one and the matches that followed over the next few weeks, he was nothing like match fit.
It goes without saying that was hardly the best situation to find himself in as he tried to adjust to life in a new country.
Then, just as his fitness reached something like the level he wanted, he was faced with a gruelling schedule that saw United face eight games in a month.
To put things in context, that’s double the number of games he’d been used to playing during any similar period in Scandinavian football.
Add to all that having to use competitive matches as the means of getting used to his new team-mates, when he looks back over his first three months on this side of the North Sea, the 27-year-old reckons he’s done pretty well.
“When I arrived, Denmark was in its shutdown for winter and before we start playing again we do have a pre-season,” he said.
“I had not done that when I joined Dundee United, so I knew I was going to have to work on my fitness to get the level I wanted.
“As well as fitness, pre-season is also good because you can have practice games that give you the chance to get used to new team-mates.
“Here I have had to do that in games in the league and the cup, and that is more difficult. The players here have helped me a lot and have been very good but it has taken time for them to know my game and for me to know theirs.”
On top of all that, he admits the past month has been an eye-opener.
“For some time now, most weeks we have had games on Saturday and then another Tuesday or Wednesday night. Back home in Denmark, and when I played in Sweden, it was not like this. Most weeks, you played the matches on a Sunday, sometimes it was Sunday then Saturday.
“Only occasionally if there was a cup game did we have a game in the middle of the week but this did not happen often and not in the way we have had games in the past month.”
That, he reveals, is where the less is more philosophy has kicked in and he credits manager Ray McKinnon for providing some sound advice.
“The gaffer spoke to me and told me I should listen to my body. He said that was important to do.
“If I have felt tired sometimes I have not done as much work as I would normally do. I still do most of the training but, some days, if we are doing shooting or other things, I sit that part out so I can give my body a rest and let it recover.”
He is in no doubt that’s been a smart move and instrumental in a run of form that’s seen him hit the back of the net five times in his last five outings, including the winner in the Challenge Cup Final against St Mirren.
“I am feeling good and I feel fit. The boys have helped me a lot because they know my game now .”
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