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.

LEE WILKIE: Why Sam Dalby’s Dundee United move is the perfect loan deal

The Tangerines targetman struck again at the weekend.

Sam Dalby applauds the Dundee United fans at full-time
Dalby is in-form and content with life at United. Image: SNS

Dundee United will be disappointed with the way Saturday’s game with Kilmarnock ended.

They should have won.

The chances were there to seal the points but only grabbing one of them leaves you open to a nasty surprise in the closing stages.

The penalty for the equaliser was soft.

I’d call it a VAR penalty, a bit like the Kevin Holt one last week.

When you examine any challenge in minute detail like that you’ll find infractions and that’s what we see with penalties like this.

Wales is impeded by Odada in the box
Kilmarnock were awarded a penalty for this Richard Odada challenge. Image: SNS

United can’t control VAR, they can’t control wee moments like the one that led to the awarding of the spot-kick.

Defence

What they can control is the way they play.

And, aside from not putting the game out of sight, there is a lot right about the way they are playing right now.

I’ve written plenty about the defence but they deserve all the plaudits going.

It’s not just the three defenders but the whole team works so hard to keep the opposition out.

And they were about a minute away from earning another clean sheet.

When you do that you give your strikers the opportunity to be the hero.

Dominant Dalby

United certainly have got one of those in Sam Dalby.

Six goals in eight games is good shooting by anybody’s measure and it’s been a loan move that has benefitted everybody.

The familiar sight of Dalby wheeling away in celebration - but United should have scored more
The familiar sight of Dalby wheeling away in celebration. Image: SNS

For the club, they’ve got a talented young player who has grown in stature as the season has progressed.

A regular goalscorer is such a precious commodity for any side.

Not only that he’s a big presence who gives defenders all sorts of problems.

His goal against Killie was a classic striker’s effort.

As soon as the shot is lined up from the edge of the area he’s the only one anticipating a rebound.

The defenders aren’t, he is and he gets his reward.

For him as a player, this has probably been the perfect move for him.

Surplus to requirements at Wrexham in the summer, heading to the Scottish Premiership was a great chance for him to show just how effective a striker he can be.

Sam Dalby heads home for Dundee United
Sam Dalby heads home. Image: SNS

Teams will be lining up to take him now after the form he’s shown in tangerine.

Dalby is something of a throwback player, you don’t really get many strikers like him coming through now.

From a Dundee United point of view you just hope Wrexham aren’t taking too much notice!

Ferry

Ferry, right, will be a big loss.
Ferry, right, will be suspended next weekend. Image: SNS

Let’s hope he can keep the run going against Motherwell this weekend.

The trip to Fir Park will be an interesting one.

It’s a game I think United can go targeting all three points.

But they’ll go there without suspended Will Ferry and that’s a blow for Jim Goodwin.

There’s not really a ready-made replacement so there may be some thinking to do in that position.

Knowing this United side that won’t throw them off their game, though.

Conversation