As disappointed as he was for Robbie Neilson on Sunday, Dundee United’s Keith Watson is now hoping to gain from his fellow defender’s absence from the Tangerines starting line-up.
The former Hearts man has nailed down the right-back position since arriving from Brentford earlier in the season, and Watson hasn’t had a look-in as a result.
Neilson’s red card against Celtic and a two-game SPL ban which has followed means there’s a position up for grabs for the visit of Rangers to Tannadice on Saturday.
The options open to boss Peter Houston are moving Sean Dillon out to full-back or drafting in Watson, who is chomping at the bit to get his first-team career up and running again.
He said: ”I’ve obviously been disappointed to not get much game time recently but Robbie’s done really well and the defence as a whole has been keeping clean sheets so it’s been hard for me to get back in.
”I was playing a lot at the start of the season and I thought I was doing well. But Robbie was brought in by the manager and has kept me out of the team.
”I think my last start was in November. I injured my knee and haven’t managed to get back in since.
”Obviously Robbie’s suspended for two games now so hopefully I’ll get my chance and do well if I’m picked.
”I’ve just had to get on with it, train well, and show the manager in bounce games that I’m ready to play. If I get my chance I’ll be looking to stay in the team.”
Watson is still in the early stages of his career and he’s put his time in the stand to good use.
He explained: ”When you’re out for a few months you’ve got to look at how you can make your game better. There’s always room for improvement. I’m still only 22.
”You get a different perspective on games when you watch them from the stand. You need to make sure you learn from that and take it on to the pitch.”
Watson is confident that there will be no Scottish Cup hangover for United.
He pointed out: ”There’s a lot for us to play for. We’re sitting fourth in the table but it’s really tight.
”It will be an exciting finish to the season for the teams looking to qualify for Europe. We’ve got there the last two seasons and we want to do it again, because we felt we were unlucky to go out against Slask in July.
”A home match against Rangers live on television is one to really look forward to. Rangers have still got a lot of good players and they’ll be up for it.”