Jim Goodwin has urged Dundee United fans to show patience towards Ryan Strain as the Australia international nears his eagerly anticipated return to action.
Strain, 27, is expected to be in the Tangerines’ matchday squad to face Aberdeen on Saturday after recovering from a serious hamstring injury sustained against Stenhousemuir in July.
The devastating set-back required surgery and resulted in three months on the sidelines.
However, Strain could make his Premiership debut for the Terrors at Pittodrie following his summer switch from St Mirren – albeit Goodwin has emphasised that he is “nowhere near” ready to take his place in the starting line-up.
‘Bang on track’
“We’re going to have a similar squad to what we had last weekend,” said Goodwin, almost certainly ruling out Louis Moult and Ross Docherty. “The positive news on the injury front is that Ryan Strain will be back in the squad.
“He’s worked really hard over the last few months to get his fitness levels up. Having him available will give the squad a real boost.
“With these types of injuries – when we’re talking about muscle repairs – there’s not a great deal you can do in terms of forcing the issue. You’re very much guided by the surgeon and by the scan results.
“The risk of trying to speed the process up wouldn’t be fair on the player. So, we’ve tried to be led by the surgeon – and Ryan is bang on track really for where he needs to be.
“He’s looked sharp in training over the last five or six sessions, and gradually that will build up. However, I stress the point; it’s important that our supporters are patient because Ryan is nowhere near ready to start the game.”
Stephenson: A midfield option?
When Strain is up to full speed, he may face a battle to reclaim the right wingback berth from Luca Stephenson, who leads the United squad in Premiership goal contributions this season – rippling the net twice and teeing up another two.
However, Goodwin has hinted that Stephenson could be utilised in the engine room.
“Strainer’s experienced enough to know how the game works,” continued Goodwin.
“He’s got to earn the right to get back into the team. And I think it’s good for Luca Stevenson to have a little bit of pressure, too.
“Also, given how light we are in the middle of the park – (David) Babunski, (Vicko) Sevelj, (Richard) Odada being the only midfielders that we have available – Luca definitely gives us another option in there, when Ryan Strain is available.”
Short shrift
Meanwhile, Goodwin gave reports of ASOS billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen considering the prospect of investing in United a wide berth, smiling: “I know nothing!
“My job is to look after first team affairs, and I have no idea what’s going on behind the scenes. I’ve not had any dialogue with the owner (Mark Ogren) or with the powers that be – so I tend not to take too much interest in any of that kind of stuff.”
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