Dundee United were battered by the wind at Motherwell on Saturday, but they’ve emerged with their new-found confidence strengthened, according to centre-back Garry Kenneth.
The side which dealt excellently with the incredibly difficult overhead conditions at Fir Park was a vast improvement on the team which was all over the place when the clubs met at Tannadice at the beginning of last month.
Kenneth believes that it’s a sign of the progress made recently that the 0-0 weekend draw was the second consecutive match the United backline hasn’t been breached a first in this campaign.
The Scotland international admitted that the swirling gale made it a necessity that there were no extravagances when they were in possession. Midfield niceties were for another day.
On this occasion it would only be fair to judge United on how they coped defensively, particularly with a series of treacherous inswinging corners in the second half, and on that front they have to be marked highly.
Kenneth said: ”That was horrendous to play in and I feel for the fans having to pay to come and watch a game like that. You try to play football but you don’t want to get caught on the ball so to some extent you’ve just got to get rid of it.
”You’re going for headers and it’s ending up at your feet, or you’re expecting it at your feet and it’s up at your neck. That makes it really tough. It wasn’t pretty but in the end we’ve got a great point at a really tough place to come.
”We probably had the better of the chances and could maybe have sneaked a win but we’re happy to get through the match with another clean sheet that’s two in a row and now we’re looking to keep building.”
As far as Kenneth is concerned there’s no need for a detailed examination into what was going wrong a few weeks ago.
He said: ”Things have changed over the last few weeks. We were scoring goals but we were losing a lot, so it meant we were having to get three or four to win a game.
”As defenders we were naturally looking at our own performances. Different individuals were making errors in different games but that’s something we seem to have eradicated and long may it continue.
”We’ve got back to basics and stopped losing goals. That makes a massive difference. You can see the confidence running through the boys again. It’s back to where it was last season.”
Continued…
”The win at Dunfermline was a massive turning point. We lost at Ibrox but that didn’t stop our momentum because we played really well. Then we had a great result last week against Hearts and an even better one this week.
“Now we need to go on a run and see where it takes us. Being hard to beat has to continue all the way until the end of the season.”
It might not have been a great spectacle, but the match had its moments of penalty box action.
Ten minutes in Dusan Pernis made a fine diving save from a low Michael Higdon shot.
On 35 minutes the Motherwell striker tapped the ball into the net after Kenneth had turned it on to his post. However the goal was disallowed for the ball going out of play earlier in the move.
United came close twice themselves shortly before the break first when Darren Randolph kept out a John Rankin shot which came through a crowded box, and then when Jon Daly shot straight at him.
With 10 minutes left of the match a brilliant sliding interception from Steve Jennings on the edge of the box was needed to thwart a dangerous Tangerines counter-attack.
Motherwell boss Stuart McCall feared that Saturday’s match would be a poor product and he was proved right.
He stated: ”If it had been cancelled at one o’clock I’d have been delighted. The match turned out to be just what I expected. If you get wind over so many miles an hour it just makes it a lottery. It can’t be great for the punters and it certainly wasn’t great for the players.”
The experience hasn’t persuaded McCall that Scottish football should become a summer game. United manager Peter Houston, however, is starting to warm to the idea.
He pointed out: ”In a time when football is desperate to get punters through the door, we’re asking them to watch a match in conditions like that.
”Should the authorities be discussing summer football? Years ago I wasn’t an advocate of it but the more I look at the Irish league, which runs between March and November, I don’t know.
”I’m not for a winter break. I’d rather change the season to make it similar to what the Irish do. We’d be playing at a time when people would be seeing a better game than they did today.”