Dundee United will be a “bit of an unknown quantity” for St Johnstone on day one of the Premiership season, Perth boss Callum Davidson has admitted.
Both Davidson and Micky Mellon will be taking charge of their new teams for the first time in the Tannadice clash on August 1.
Playing without supporters was always going to make it an intriguing Tayside derby and now there is also the added ingredient of two rookie managers in the Scottish top flight coming up against each other.
“When you start a pre-season you always look forward to seeing who you are playing in your first fixture,” said Davidson in an interview with Sky Sports.
“It gives you a focus to build-up to the start of the season.
“Obviously we haven’t played for a while so we will be raring to go.
“It’s a local derby and it would have been good to have the fans there. But that won’t be possible.
“These will be different sort of challenges we will come across. We are going to have to deal with playing in front of no crowds and try to figure out the best way to do it.
“United will be a bit of an unknown quantity. Any new manager coming in has their own ideas and styles and when the transfer window opens it will be interesting to see what kind of business they do.
“In any new season teams have different ideas.
“I think it’s exciting for a manager to find out what different teams are doing, what tactics and systems they are trying to play. I’m looking forward to it.”
Assessing the early season fixture list for Saints beyond the local derby, Davidson observed: “It’s a tough opening for us with United first, Aberdeen at home then Rangers and Kilmarnock away.
“But that’s the league for you. There are no easy games. It’s a small league and the teams are competitive.
“Rangers and Celtic have usually pulled away in the past but the rest are all fighting for the four places that are left in that top six.”
