Jim Goodwin has joked that Tony Watt’s entourage of friends and family will be invited to EVERY fixture at Tannadice after the striker notched a hat-trick against Partick Thistle.
Watt was roared on by a host of loved ones as he celebrated his 30th birthday in splendid style, putting the Jags to the sword in superb fashion.
It took Watt’s tally for the campaign to eight and, more importantly, ended the Tangerines’ two-game winless run.
It has been some birthday for Tony Watt.
He nets a hat-trick as Dundee United beat Partick Thistle 3-0.
A big night for the captain, a big win, and a huge three points for the home side.#BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/ftwEaID1xe
— BBC Sport Scotland (@BBCSportScot) December 29, 2023
Goodwin lauded: “I’m so pleased for Tony. It was his birthday, and he had a lot of family and friends here.
“We’ll have to make sure they are all invited back to every game at Tannadice if that’s the level of performance he puts in! We’d be mad not to.
“Tony has been great for me all season. He’s a great character in terms of what he brings in the dressing room. He keeps the lads together and there’s never a dull moment around the place.”
Visible improvement
The comprehensive victory was richly merited, with the Terrors dominating the contest from start to finish; far more akin to their early-season Championship showings.
“That was everything we worked on during the week to try to improve on,” continued Goodwin. “I saw the improvement in the training sessions we done, and we wanted to carry that into the game and implement it.
“And from the first whistle, we were on the front-foot, played forward quicker and got up behind second balls. I’m delighted.”
Declan Gallagher “a concern”
The only negative on a pleasing night for United was the sight of Declan Gallagher limping off with a groin strain.
Goodwin said: “There’s a concern with Gall. He missed the Queen of the South game and the Falkirk game with this groin strain.
“We thought we’d got to the other side of it, but it’s started to niggle a little in the last week or so. He fell awkwardly on in and then, not long after that, he overstretched again.
“So, it wasn’t worth taking the risk of putting him back on.”
He added: “I thought Ross Graham went on and did everything expected of him. It’s not easy going on in a game like that at centre-half, winning 1-0 with a bit of pressure. He was excellent.”
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