Jim Goodwin has praised the performance of Glenn Middleton after the Dundee United winger was handed the unenviable task of replacing Will Ferry against Motherwell.
Ferry has been one of the Tangerines’ most consistent performers since his arrival from Cheltenham Town but missed out against the Steelmen after picking up his sixth booking of the campaign.
Middleton, a more naturally forward-thinking player, stepped into the role and proceeded to have a breathless, ding-dong battle with ‘Well counterpart Marvin Kaleta on the flank.
Kaleta teed up Motherwell’s opening two goals, further shining a spotlight on Ferry’s absence.
However, Middleton was also one of United’s best attackers, whipping in 10 crosses and teeing up three scoring opportunities; Ryan Strain was the only player to create more.
Kaleta was withdrawn in the second half as Motherwell sought to tighten up and tame Middleton.
Goodwin: Middleton display was very good
“Will Ferry has been one of our most consistent players all season and if you take a good quality player out of any team, it can slightly weaken it,” said Goodwin.
“But I won’t be pointing the finger at Glenn Middleton. I thought he was very good; really positive when we were in possession. Defensively, he did the job that has been asked of him. He’s played left wing-back before, numerous times.
“We win and lose together, as a team. And, as a team, we need to pick ourselves up and go again.
“We’ve got another extremely difficult fixture coming up next Sunday (Celtic at Tannadice) and then it’s into a run of hard games. So, we won’t be feeling sorry for ourselves.
“We are going to lose games along the way and the important thing is that we all stick together.”
Asked whether he expects his side to be back to their stoic selves when Celtic visit Tannadice next Sunday, Goodwin said: “I am confident of that. The defensive record up to Saturday speaks for itself.”
Trapanovski back in action
A silver lining for United was the return of Kristijan Trapanovski, who climbed from the bench to turn in a bright cameo as the visitors chased a dramatic leveller at Fir Park.
It was his first appearance since limping out of the Terrors’ 1-1 draw against Hibernian on November 3 with a hamstring strain.
And Goodwin knows having as many bodies back as possible will be vital as the Celtic showdown sounds the starter’s pistol on a run of seven games in 20 days.
“It was great to get Trapa back involved,” added Goodwin. “We know how important a player he is. He caused one or two problems on the far side in the last 20 minutes.
“It’s important that we get all our injured players back to give us as many options as possible off the bench in moments we need to freshen things up.”
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