Jim Goodwin insists he wouldn’t care if Raith Rovers were roared on by 5,000 fans at Tannadice as he batted away suggestions that Dundee United are feeling “rattled” in the Championship title race.
The accusation came from Stark’s Park gaffer Ian Murray last week, in the context of Rovers only receiving 1,342 tickets for the nerve-shredding showdown.
That compared unfavourably to the 1,950-strong following they were afforded when given the entire Carling Stand (“The Shed”) last December.
Rovers were informed that operational issues meant that the whole end of the ground could not be offered on this occasion; something that has apparently cut little ice with either Murray or Raith CEO Andrew Barrowman.
Most notably, Murray told the Fife Free Press, “we now know publicly that we’ve got them a little bit rattled”.
Asked directly whether there is any substance to that comment, Goodwin said: “Definitely not, no.
“This is a game of football. There are a hell of a lot worse things happening in the world and, even in football terms, we are the ones sitting top of the table.
“The ticketing situation is absolutely nothing to do with me, and I couldn’t care if they got 500 tickets or 5000 tickets. It means nothing to me or my players.
“We focus on what we can affect in the game, and what we need to do to get the result.
“We are very comfortable – we have some big players in our team. There’s a lot of experience in our squad; boys who have been there, done it and have handled these sort of situations before.
“And we’ve just got to enjoy these moments. It’s great to be fighting for a title, exciting for everyone and we’ll be calm and focused going into Saturday.”
Luck
Nevertheless, there is little debate that United are wobbling.
They have won just six of their 13 games in 2024 and have conceded the opening goal in eight of those fixtures. It is not title-winning form and time is running out to rediscover their mojo.
A victory against Rovers would be the ideal way to do that.
And following two defeats and a draw from three fraught, narrow contests this term, Goodwin reckons his charges are certainly due one.
“Rather than nerves, the overriding feeling is that we are really looking forward to it,” he continued.
“We haven’t carried much luck in these games, but we are very excited about this one. The boys look in a really good place this week.
“There’s a determination to give a good account of ourselves and we definitely feel that we are due a win in one of these games. Two defeats and a draw isn’t good enough.
“We have to make sure we come out on top on Saturday. Simple as that.”
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