Kevin Holt has been deemed “50/50” for Dundee United’s Premiership showdown against St Mirren on Saturday.
However, boss Jim Goodwin reckons the Tangerines are fortunate to have a player of Ross Graham’s calibre ready to step in after hailing the homegrown centre-back’s display against Celtic.
Holt, who has been in sensational form in recent weeks, is nursing a minor knock and was a notable absentee as the Terrors fell to a 2-0 defeat in Glasgow on Wednesday evening.
That provided a window of opportunity for Graham to make his first United start in more than three months and, despite being powerless to stop Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate from finding the net, he turned in a superb showing.
Goodwin hails Ross Graham impact
“Kevin Holt was carrying a knock and missed out,” confirmed Goodwin. “Kevin is 50/50 (to face St Mirren) at the moment. We’ll need to see how things go.
“But Ross Graham came in against Celtic and was excellent at defending the box, showing his ability on the ball at times, too. I thought he was outstanding at the back.
“We know what a good player Rossco is. He has just been very unfortunate that the three players ahead of him (Emmanuel Adegboyega, Kevin Holt, Declan Gallagher) have been very consistent.
“That’s why we have one of the best defensive records in the league.”
He added: “Kevin Holt has been one of our most consistent performers this season but having someone of the quality of Ross Graham ready to step in is something we are very fortunate to have.”
High hopes for Cleall-Harding
Meanwhile, Goodwin reckons a massive year lies ahead for highly rated teenager Sam Cleall-Harding following his recall from Kelty Hearts.
The 18-year-old made 15 appearances on loan with the Maroon Machine and became a firm favourite in Fife.
And after his return to Tannadice was confirmed on Tuesday evening, he was on the bench at Celtic Park 24 hours later.
Asked whether Cleall-Harding would be part of the United first-team group, rather than be farmed out for another loan, Goodwin said: “Yes.
“Sam had a really good loan spell with Kelty Hearts.
“We recognise that the step up from League One to the Premiership is quite a big leap, but we have really high hopes for Sam. He is a player with potential.
“He still has developing to do, but we want him to be around the first team more regularly because next season is going to be a big one.
“When he comes back in for next pre-season, he has to come back with the mindset of a first team player if he’s going to kick on.
“And there may be opportunities for Sam between now and the end of the season.
“One thing we don’t want to do is leave ourselves short in those key positions if something were to happen to one of the senior players.”
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