Tam Courts has issued a rally call to the Dundee United fans to sell out The Shed ahead of Celtic’s Scottish Cup visit to Tannadice.
United have opened up the iconic stand to home fans in a bid to create a sea of Tangerine across three stands for Monday night’s quarter-final clash.
Courts is keen to exorcise the Hampden heartache that saw United lose 2-0 to Hibernian in last year’s Scottish Cup semi-final.
And he believes fan-backing is crucial.
“The fans will be huge going forward,” said Courts. “Look at the tightness of the league.
👀 No more what-ifs, now is the time #HampdensCalling | #UnitedTogether
— Dundee United FC (@dundeeunitedfc) March 9, 2022
“It is very competitive and it is going to go right down to the wire.
“We need everyone connected to the club to be focused on the job in hand.
“It’s a quarter-final and the fans appealed to the club to get The Shed. We have done that for them.
“Hopefully, we will have the majority of the support on the night. That should be a major advantage.
“We have to be very respectful. Celtic and Rangers, on their day, are the best two teams in the country.
Dundee United hoping for Hampden return
“But we are going into a quarter-final and will put together a gameplan that we hope will get us to the semi-final.
“The carrot of getting to Hampden is massive, with what will hopefully be a 50/50 allocation for the fans.
“That is a huge motivation and incentive for the players.
“I know how the players felt after last season’s semi-final.
“They had a tremendous result and performance against Aberdeen in the previous round.
“But then in the semi-final, they felt they left a little bit out there.
“There is maybe some unfinished business from last year.
“Cup runs are important to the football club.
“We also got to the same stage of the Premier Sports Cup but this time we would like to go one stage further.”
Tam Courts hopes Dundee United can upset Celtic again
United have fared well against the Old Firm this term.
They have beaten Rangers and drawn with them at home.
They also earned a point at Celtic Park before narrowly losing to a late Liel Abada goal on their second visit.
“The two games at Celtic Park were very similar,” said Courts.
“We were very organised and earned Celtic’s respect with the way we used the ball.
“The game at Tannadice was one where we never played to our full potential with the ball.
“As a consequence, it became a very tough afternoon.
“Clearly, we know what we need to do and to avoid to impact the game.
“We are up against a top team but are excited about the game and the carrot that is there at the end of it.”
