Jim Goodwin insists Mathew Cudjoe is “chomping at the bit” to shine for Dundee United following a two-month spell out of the starting line-up.
The Ghanaian was dismissed against Morton in September and, having served the subsequent two-match ban, suffered an untimely dead leg — affording Kai Fotheringham the opportunity to cement the right-wing position.
Cudjoe has been on the bench for the Tangerines’ last five fixtures.
Nevertheless, the gifted forward has continued to illustrate his ability, most notably teeing up Chris Mochrie’s last-gasp winner against Dunfermline last Friday night.
And with Fotheringham away on international duty with Scotland U21s, Cudjoe will return to the side for this week’s televised SPFL Trust Trophy quarter-final against Falkirk, fitness permitting.
“Cudj is chomping at the bit to get minutes,” said United boss Jim Goodwin. “We’ll see how he comes through training this week but he’s the obvious replacement with Kai (Fotheringham) on international duty.
“Cudj has played that position really well at the beginning of the season.
“He has gone through a couple of set-backs with suspension and injury, which meant he missed a few games.
“In my head at the moment, Cudjoe will come in on the right-hand side and hopefully show everyone what he is capable of. We know the quality he has after his form at the start of the season.”
Goodwin: We’ll be patient with Doc
However, Goodwin has hinted that club captain Ross Docherty is less likely to feature as United continue to treat his recent groin injury with caution.
Docherty hast’t featured since limping off 19 minutes in to the 2-0 win at Airdrie on October 31.
“It (the injury) is nothing we are concerned about,” continued Goodwin. “But we are conscious that it has been a frustrating start to the season for Doc (Docherty).
“He is not a player who has ever been injury-prone so we want to make sure when he comes back, he is back for good.
“I certainly won’t be rushing him for Friday. If he feels that he’s good to go in the next couple of days, then we’ll make a decision. But the league is the priority for this season and we need to make sure we have Doc for the duration. We’ll be patient.”
Goodwin will field “strong team” at Falkirk
Indeed, Goodwin will size up a couple of “little niggles” within his squad ahead of the trip to the Falkirk Stadium in, by his own admission, the lowest priority of United’s competitions.
However, he fully intends to field a side strong enough to continue their pursuit of silverware.
Goodwin added: “We have one or two members of the squad who have little niggles that will give us a decision to make in the later part of the week. However, we WILL be fielding a strong team. There is no doubt about that.”
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