Jack Ross insists goalkeeper Carljohan Eriksson merited his maiden Dundee United appearance following a ‘difficult’ period for Mark Birighitti.
Australia cap Birighitti shipped 11 goals in two matches against AZ Alkmaar and Hearts prior to being dropped for Saturday’s 3-0 reverse against St Mirren.
Eriksson, also an international stopper with Finland, was preferred between the sticks – albeit the decision did little to revive the fortunes of the winless Terrors.
Ross, who previously stated that he had no fears over Birighitti’s mental strength, is adamant he did not throw the 31-year-old ‘under the bus’ – emphasising that Eriksson earned his place.
It was Eriksson’s first outing since joining United from Mjallby in January.
“I’m reluctant to make changes in that position (goalkeeper) because I think that draws more attention,” said Ross.
“The last thing I would want is for it to be looked upon like I’m throwing somebody under the bus, for want of a better expression, to deflect away from the team having poor results.
“But Mark did have a couple of difficult games and we looked at things over the course of the week in training.
“Saku (Carljohan Eriksson) has trained well since pre-season, he’s an international goalkeeper and when you have two number ones competing to play, he could sense an opportunity.
“He was given that on Saturday.”
‘Ridiculously poor’
Eriksson made a couple of solid stops against the Buddies, most notably denying Mark O’Hara after the ex-Dundee midfielder surged through on goal.
However, all of his saves were of a standard that you would expect a Premiership stopper to make.
St Mirren made it 3-0 in injury time when Eriksson rushed from his goal-mouth in a bid to beat Alex Grieve to a through-ball, only to lose the foot race and allow the young forward to roll into an empty net.
“I don’t think he was culpable for what lay before that,” added Ross. “The third goal is ridiculously poor from our perspective and the game was lost by that point.
“Saku’s contribution before that was solid enough.”
Celtic challenge
A fragile and porous United could not have a tougher test up next.
Celtic arrive at Tannadice on the back of four successive victories, with 12 goals scored and just one conceded.
The Tangerines’ last victory over the Hoops was in December 2014, with Nadir Ciftci and Stuart Armstrong both rippling the net in a 2-1 triumph.
It remains to seen who will wear the gloves this weekend.
“Irrespective of the opponent next weekend, we need to find an answer,” added Ross.
“We have one of the biggest challenges in the league at the moment, in terms of who we face on Sunday.
“But there’s no point in looking to that fixture as one where we can’t find a solution – otherwise there’d be no point in us turning up.”
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