Dundee United gaffer Ray McKinnon rubbished all talk of Dundee United being on a revenge mission before Dumbarton visited Tannadice.
Without doubt the low point of the Tangerines’ campaign to date came at the Cheaper Insurance Direct Stadium in only the second week of the Championship season back in August when they crashed to a 1-0 defeat.
On a bad afternoon, Ray watched on helplessly as his new-look team went down to a second-half penalty from Mark Docherty.
Despite repeated pre-season warnings from the manager over how tough the league campaign would be, it was a wake-up call for both players and fans.
Painful as the experience was, and going into the return fixture, Ray has stressed he has no axe to grind with the Sons over that result.
“This is not about a revenge mission, so let’s not go there,” he said. “I have not given that game a thought.
“All I’ve thought about this week is how to break them down and win this game.
“In the end, all Dumbarton did last time was their jobs, so well done to them. It was a bad day for us, but I’m looking forward to this as a great opportunity to get three points and kick on — nothing else.”
United go into this one on a high after a run of four games unbeaten and Ray likes the way the squad is coming together.
“There’s a real good atmosphere and I’ve been feeling that for weeks.
“Everyone is settling in and getting to know each other. New boys, big William Edjenguele, Tony Andreu and Frank van der Struijk, have been settling in really well.
“In fact, all the new signings are doing brilliantly and they are integrating really well with the rest of the squad. I can see a real togetherness and it’s great.
“You need that in this league because, as I keep saying, it’s a tough division — you just need to look at last week’s results to see that.
“There’s Morton going to Queen of the South and winning 5-0, no one would have seen that coming, but in this league everyone can beat everyone and you have to be on your game all the time. I think the boys here get that and that’s why our results have been getting better.”
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