Dundee United’s John Rankin believes that Tannadice is the ideal proving ground for highly-rated youngster Scott Allan.
Rankin knows from his own experience as a youth at Manchester United that there is no substitute for regular first-team football to fully develop a player’s potential.
Nineteen-year-old Allan has been a stand-out performer since he was thrown in at the deep end at Tynecastle three weeks ago to make his SPL debut with his displays earning him a call-up to the Scotland Under-21 squad.
Rankin believes his team-mate is capable of improving even further. He said: “I think it is better for a young player like Scott Allan to be at Dundee United rather than at a bigger club and not playing.
“You see young players at the big clubs having to move on and take a step down after a few years. But he is 19 and playing in the first team, so he will be learning all the time there is no substitute for that.
“I was really impressed by Scotty in training before the season started but the last few weeks are the first time I have seen him in games. The manager has great confidence in him and so do the rest of the lads.
“He came to Parkhead with us at the weekend and did brilliantly, just like he did in the other two games. It can be a bit of a culture shock the first time you play on that stage but he handled it really well.”
While Allan has been the subject of most attention after his recent performances, striker Johnny Russell has also been catching the eye and is being tipped as the long-term replacement for David Goodwillie after his big-money move to Blackburn.
Rankin has been impressed by both Allan and Russell and reckons the future is bright at Tannadice.
“Everyone will be looking for the next David Goodwillie to come out from Dundee United,” he said. “Nobody should be putting pressure on Scott because he has only played three games but he’s a very exciting talent.
“In Johnny Russell, we have someone capable of stepping into Goodie’s shoes. He scored at the weekend and will step up to the plate. He is another one with so much potential.”
United may have been beaten 5-1 by Celtic on Saturday but Rankin insists it was telling that the Hoops’ goalkeeper Lukasz Zaluska was named man of the match.
“I don’t think 5-1 was a true reflection of the play,” he added. “I thought we played well in spells but we shot ourselves in the foot by conceding again so soon after we scored.
“If we could have held it to 1-1 until half time, the crowd might have started to get on their backs, but conceding so soon after scoring gave them the impetus to go on.
“When we heard that Zaluska got the man of the match award it really summed things up for us. We created loads of chances and he pulled off a lot of good saves, especially from Johnny Russell. I don’t think the scoreline reflected the way the game actually was but we will bounce back from it because there were positives to take.
“We went to Celtic Park and created a lot of chances so we will take heart from that. If we do that again in the weeks to come then it’s inevitable that we will score some of them.”