Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Jim Goodwin reveals message to Dundee United stars as Tannadice boss serves pointed ‘reminder’

Goodwin's mantra has been one of 'positivity' this week

Jim Goodwin, Dundee United manager, on the touchline at Tannadice
Jim Goodwin's Dundee United host Raith a week on Saturday. Image: SNS

Jim Goodwin has acknowledged the “outside noise” following Dundee United’s Scottish Cup exit against Queen of the South.

However, the United boss is determined to maintain a sense of perspective.

Goodwin is cognisant that criticism will inevitably follow the club’s second cup loss in the space of eight days, having also exited the SPFL Trust Trophy to Falkirk in the prior fixture.

I think it’s important to remind people that we’ve lost one game in 90 minutes in the last four months.

Jim Goodwin

However, he is adamant the frustration will not be allowed to “fester” as the table-topping Tangerines pursue a 14th Championship fixture without defeat this weekend.

Struggling Morton are the opponents at Cappielow.

Jim Goodwin demands more from his Dundee United player
Goodwin demands more from his United players at Palmerston. Image: SNS

“My message to the players has been one of positivity,” said Goodwin.

“It’s my job as manager to reflect, analyse and learn lessons from it. But we’re not going to change a great deal for Saturday, in terms of approach. We’ll try and play our possession-based football and play with pace and intensity.

“I can’t ask for much more, other than to be clinical and ruthless in front of goal. We should have won last weekend, but their goalkeeper (Harry Stone) was exceptional on the day.

“We’re not going to allow that disappointment to fester. The focus is on the main objective, which is promotion to the Premiership.”

He added: “There’s always a lot of noise outside a club when the big team loses to a smaller team. We know cup upsets can happen.

“But I think it’s important to remind people that we’ve lost ONE game in 90 minutes in the last four months, we’re top of the league; scored the most and conceded the least.”

Goodwin: Morton are “fighting for their lives”

Goodwin knows how tough an assignment awaits when the Terrors come up against Dougie Imrie’s side, even with the Cappielow outfit toiling four points adrift at the foot of the Championship.

Dundee United's Craig Sibbald attempts to challenge Morton keeper Ryan Mullen
Morton and Dundee United drew 1-1 when they last met. Image: Shutterstock / Richard Wiseman

“Dougie and his players are fighting for their lives at the bottom of the table,” he continued. “Morton are an organised, direct side and like to get the ball to the two target men up top.

“They compete well all over the pitch, so we’ve got to do that element of the game first and foremost; win those individual battles, play with a controlled aggression and then play our game.”

Making amends

Indeed, Morton showcased their stubbornness by claiming a 1-1 draw at Tannadice earlier this season, with Robbie Muirhead capatalising on a mix-up between Jack Walton and Declan Gallagher to score.

That cancelled out Louis Moult’s opener.

He added: “We remember the game at Tannadice. It wasn’t easy and we needed to fight and scrap for every ball. Saturday will be no different.

“It wasn’t our best performance of the season. Morton got plenty of bodies back behind the ball and were very aggressive. We didn’t get any rhythm to our game on that day.

“But we did get ourselves in front – and then a mix-up at the back gives Morton the equaliser, which can happen.”

Tony Watt and Archie Meekison will both be absent for the journey west.

Conversation