Dundee United defender Garry Kenneth admits he has been using pester-power to try to get back into the team.
The Scotland international has been making manager Peter Houston’s life a misery recently, knocking on his office door, texting and phoning him. Kenneth’s reasoning is that if he keeps asking then Houston will eventually give in to his request to return from the medial ligament strain he suffered when the Tangerines faced Hearts last month.
He sat kicking his heels on the bench on Sunday afternoon as his team-mates drew 2-2 with Motherwell in the Scottish Cup quarter-final. However, the nagging is likely to pay off for him tonight when he is tipped to be back at the heart of United’s defence when they welcome the Jam Tarts to Tannadice on league business.
“I was desperate to get on the park on Sunday, but it was not to be,” said Kenneth. “It is over three weeks since I last played and I really want to get back out there.
“I have been having a dig at the gaffer for over a week now. I have been in his office every day trying to get him to put me back in the squad. I even phoned him on Saturday night about it. I was texting, too, asking if there was any chance of a game.
“He told me to leave it to the morning but when I went in on Sunday our physio, Jeff Clarke, said no because I had an appointment with a specialist on Monday night. I wasn’t happy with that so I spoke to the gaffer again. I hoped that by pestering him he would give in but it was a waste of time because he left me on the bench.
“I just want to get on with it now. The injury was a tough one a medial ligament strain so I have to be careful but I am confident I am ready. I feel within myself that I am back.
“With the lads winning the league games and doing great to stay in the cup, it has been worse for me being on the sidelines just because I want to be involved.”
United were certainly unlucky to lose 2-1 when they faced Hearts last month and Kenneth believes even a draw would not have been a fair return for a fine performance. And he insists that third spot, seemingly already sewn up by the Gorgie men, is still up for grabs.
“When we played them at Tynecastle we actually should have won that game, never mind gotten a draw,” he said. “Instead, we ended up losing after going there and passing them off the park. How many teams do that?
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“I still think we have a real chance of finishing third. We play Hearts twice yet and there is a lot of football between now and the end of the season.
“We should have more points on the board than we do, and that is frustrating. We should have won games against Hibs, Aberdeen and others instead of drawing those matches.
“Had we turned just a few of those into victories then we would be right behind Hearts but we will still be doing our best to close the gap.”
Meanwhile, Houston was full of praise for the season this evening’s opponents have put together so far.
“We’ve had great games against Hearts this season and, to be fair, I’ve got great admiration for them,” said the manager. “I worked for Jim Jefferies and Billy Brown for years and I know how good they are. They’ve had a sensational season when you look at their points tally over the last 16 or so games.
“There’s no question they’ve been the third best team in the league up until now, so we know it will be difficult. But we’re going into it in a pretty good run of form, so we’ll be going for it as usual.”
Houston would not confirm that Kenneth was set to return. Prince Buaben is suspended and Craig Conway is a doubt.
Hearts pair Eggert Jonsson and Ruben Palazuelos are suspended. Lee Wallace (ankle) is battling to be fit, while Rudi Skacel (Achilles) is also a doubt and Kevin Kyle (groin) is out.
But Hearts have reported no other problems with Ian Black and Jason Thomson returning to the squad.