Dundee United defender Sean Dillon is accentuating the positive when it comes to the club’s frenetic fixture schedule.
A pile-up of postponements, the latest coming in midweek when the home game against Hamilton was called off, has seen United playing catch-up with the rest of the teams in the SPL.
Five of the six sides above the Tangerines in the league table including this Saturday’s opponents Hearts have played four matches more than they have, giving their current seventh place a skewed look to it.
Of course, points will need to accumulated in order for United to head up the way, but Dillon is determined to be optimistic about what lies ahead.
“We have to look at it in a positive way we have no choice,” said the Irishman.
“I can’t remembering anything as bad as this in my career. It has just been silly (for postponements) this winter.
“It is a pain in the backside getting a game off and I am sure Hamilton got the hump in midweek when our match went off, but we were the same when the one at Inverness got cancelled when we were sitting at our pre-match meal.
“It is not nice when a game is cancelled because you have prepared for it on the training park and got ready for it mentally too.
“And, on the down side, having loads of games in a short space of time means we will be utilising the squad more than if we were playing Saturday to Saturday.
“But there is no point moaning and saying, ‘Oh, for goodness’ sake, we have so many matches.’
“It is not going to change and you are better looking on the bright side.
“So we are hoping that within the space of a week or two we could really build up a few wins and lots of points, then climb right up the table.
“Let’s just get on with it.”RobbedThe cancellation of the Accies match robbed Dillon and his colleagues the chance to quickly get last Sunday’s loss to Celtic out of the system.
“We wanted to bounce back straight away so it would have been better to play Hamilton,” he said.
“On Sunday, we didn’t do ourselves justice.
“It was better that we played well in the second half and poorly in the first than the other way around because at least we finished on a more upbeat note.
“In that first half, we lacked concentration and gave the ball away in silly positions.
“So that was disappointing, but we did better after half-time and I was much happier than I was at the break.”
Now they have the opportunity to get back on track this afternoon at a venue Dillon loves to visit.
“It is going to be a really tough game,” he said. “They are in really good form and even were they not in good form it would be tough.
“I enjoy going there, though.
“I get asked by my friends and family a lot about what playing at Ibrox and Parkhead is like but they don’t realise-particularly those back in Ireland-how good a venue Tynecastle is.
“It is a really great place to visit as a player.
“When you consider the capacity is only 18,000 or so, which is way less than the two Old Firm grounds, it is not that big, but the atmosphere is fantastic.
“Hearts always make it hard but we are always quietly confident about going to any ground and we fancy ourselves.
“We are not being arrogant but we do have belief that we can go there and win.”
Jon Daly has undergone a hernia operation and will miss out today, while Craig Conway (thigh) and Morgaro Gomis (knee) will get late fitness tests.
Manager Peter Houston said, “If we can beat Hearts it will be a fantastic result because they are on a really good run of form.
“It’s never the easiest place to get a result but we’ve had a few good results there over the last few years and hopefully we’ll get another one tomorrow.”
Lee Wallace is a doubt for Hearts. The Scotland left-back has bruising on his ankle and missed training yesterday, but Hearts are optimistic he could yet be fit.
Kevin Kyle (groin) and Calum Elliot (knee) again miss out.
United’s home match with Hamilton has been rescheduled for Thursday, March 10.