Dundee United midfielder Willo Flood has been urged to give himself a break as he bids to rediscover his form.
The Irishman was substituted at the interval when United met Celtic at Parkhead on Saturday after a poor first-half performance. Subsequently, United Peter Houston has had a talk with the player and reassured Flood he will be back to his best soon.
”Willo’s confidence is a bit down at the moment but I have had a chat with him about it,” said Houston. ”I had left him out of the team previously to take the pressure off him a wee bit and Stuart Armstrong was playing brilliantly.
”I brought him back in against Celtic and he knows himself he didn’t have a great first half. When your confidence is down you start thinking about things too much instead of playing your normal game.
”He gets frustrated at himself and from what he said he had a horrible weekend because of it.
”Willo is desperate to do well but he has to watch to not try too hard because that can be counter-productive as well. If you are thinking too much about things then you stop doing what comes naturally to you.
”Willo is a much better player than he was in the first half against Celtic and I fully expect him to show that as the season progresses. I have told him not to worry about it. He will be back in form before long.”
Houston was left frustrated after his side’s closed-door game against Falkirk on Tuesday was called off because of a frost-bound pitch.
The Tannadice manager had intended to run the rule over an unnamed foreign forward but those plans were ruined by the weather.