Dundee United’s new Dutch defender Timothy van der Meulen will be content if he can contribute as much to the cause as their other former Ajax player.
Van der Meulen, who will go straight into the Tangerines’ squad for the latest leg of their Scottish Cup defence at Hamilton on Saturday, is well aware of how Prince Buaben has done in the SPL since switching form the Amsterdam club’s acclaimed academy.
The 20-year-old now faces the challenge of becoming a United first-team fixture like Ghanaian internationalist Buaben and will be happy if he can follow in his footsteps.
“I knew of Prince before I came here as he was also at Ajax as a youngster,” said Van der Meulen.
“He had done very well in Holland and is a really good player.
“From what I have been told, he is an important guy for United.
“Hopefully, I can do just as well as him in my time here.
“That has to be my aim, although I am a defender and he is a midfielder so we are different types.
“I want to make a big impact and this is a chance I want to take with both hands.
“I know I must improve as well in certain areas but that’s what I have to do when I am here.Physical”Scottish football is very fast and physical that’s the biggest difference from Holland.
“It is something I will have to get used to, but I will be able to handle that side of the game in this country.
“The reason I came here is this is a chance for regular first-team football and, like Prince, I have had a very good education at Ajax.
“I moved so I could develop my full potential and I think I can do that at Dundee United.”
He already feels right home at United, having moved in with some new team-mates.
“All the lads have made me very welcome,” he added.
“They are a friendly bunch and know that this is my first time away from home.
“I share a flat with Andis Shala, Mihael Kovacevic and the young guy Scott Allan,” he said.
“Andis is a great cook. I leave him to get on with things in the kitchen and some of his pasta dishes are really tasty, so is the chicken.
“I think when you are happy off the pitch it helps you on it and I am feeling good about this move.”
Ahead of the club’s latest defence of their Scottish Cup title, the Dutchman has been well drilled in what the tournament means to the Tangerines.
The Dutchman went on, “I saw that United won the cup last season.
“It is a big prize and if I am asked to play my part I will do my best.
“I don’t know if I will feature but I know it is a big game for the club.”
Meanwhile, United boss Peter Houston admitted Wednesday night’s postponment of the Inverness Caley Thistle game may have been a blessing in disguise.
With Saturday ‘s tricky trip to New Douglas Park looming large, Houston has been glad of the extra recovery time for his injured players.
“Inverness will be kicking themselves when they find out what players we would have had missing had the game gone ahead,” he said.
“Prince Buaben, Morgaro Gomis, Craig Conway, Jon Daly, Paul Dixon, Mihael Kovacevic, Scott Severin and Darren Dods.
“To be honest, I think you could say we dodged a bullet.Young”It would have been a very young team but hopefully we will get at least three back for the cup-tie.
“It has given some of our key players an extra couple of days to recover and, as everyone knows, the cup is big for us financially and the fact we are the holders.
“We enjoyed last year’s run which culminated in us winning the trophy.”
Houston was at McDiarmid Park on Tuesday to see Accies lose to St Johnstone but he still feels they will be formidable opponents.
“It is going to be a very difficult game,” he said.
“I watched Hamilton play the other night and they know themselves they didn’t play well.
“However, they are still an extremely tough team to play against because they are so well organised.
“One thing for sure is that since Accies came into this league we have never had an easy game against them.
“Fortunately, we have scraped by in our last two games at New Douglas Park.
“But this is the cup and, to be fair, it is as difficult a tie as we could have landed due to the way they play.Strongest”When they have their strongest team out, I don’t think any team in the SPL relishes going there.”
United have had more than their fair share of away fixtures in the competition they won so memorably back in May, but Houston is sure his players can dig deep once more.
“The beauty of last season’s run was that we took it game by game,” he added.
“We were favourites to go out at both Partick Thistle and St Johnstone where we scraped through.
“We were favourites to go out when we were 3-1 down at Ibrox and pulled it back before beating Rangers in a replay.
“Then, in the semi-final, Raith Rovers started better than us until we took a hold of the game and won through.
“We have always seemed to be drawn away from home so we are used to it and don’t complain.
“The only home tie we have had was against Ross County this season where we were actually lucky to stay in the cup.
“They were better than us over the two legs and we had our goalkeeper Steve Banks to thank for keeping us in it.
“But sometimes you need a wee bit of luck. Hopefully that can put us on a similar pathway to Hampden this time round.
“We know what it takes to get there, which should stand us in good stead.
“In a one-off occasion you have no fear and just go for it on the day simple as that.”