Tam Courts has lavished praise on Ross Graham after the Dundee United defender’s fairytale continued, quipping: “The only thing he hasn’t provided is the winning lottery numbers!”
Graham opened the scoring against Hibs at Easter Road on Saturday, sending the Tangerines on their way to a pivotal 1-1 draw.
The towering header came mere days after the promising centre-half marked his Scotland under-21 debut with a goal against Kazakhstan.
Graham has also rippled the net against Rangers, has been named in the SPFL team of the week twice and made his senior bow for the Tangerines at Parkhead.
For a player who endured a miserable loan stint with Dunfermline earlier this term, his resurgence has been sensational.
“The only thing Ross Graham hasn’t provided is the winning lottery numbers,”smiled the United gaffer.
“He’s had another top day; another mature performance and big moment. He has grasped every opportunity with both hands.
“Set pieces were an area we believed could bring a breakthrough, or at least allow us to be dangerous. So, to see the work we did on the training pitch come to fruition is really positive.
“Playing in this formation means that players need to be comfortable defending one-vs-one and working in big spaces. You can see that Ross is equipped to handle that.
“His strength in both boxes is great to have.
“At 21 years old, he has a great mentality, really nice presence on the pitch and there aren’t many left-sided centre-backs going about.”
Greedy
Graham’s opener was cancelled out by a powerful drive by the excellent Harry Clarke on the cusp of half-time.
And, after a fine first period from the visitors, Hibs undoubtedly had the better of the contest after the break.
Elias Melkersen, in particular, will rue a wasted opportunity in the dying embers.
“You would probably be greedy if you wanted the three points,” conceded Courts.
“If we played in the second half the way we did in the first half, we probably would have had a better chance — but we couldn’t get any rhythm.
“Hibs will be disappointed because, in the second half, they probably had the game’s best chances.
“From our perspective, a draw is a positive one.”
McNulty update
Indeed, the draw sees United remain in fourth spot in the Premiership and three points ahead of both seventh-placed Ross County and Livingston in eighth position.
It would take a remarkable set of results — including losing at home to the Dee — for the Tangerines not to make the top six next week.
And Courts played down the prospect of Marc McNulty missing derby day despite the Scotland internationalist being forced off in the closing stages.
“It was more a case of fatigue [than injury],” added Courts. “I think we’ve caught that.
“You can see that with all our players, but particularly our strikers — they are putting in so much work. It’s something that I appreciate and the team appreciates.”
