Dundee United manager Jackie McNamara believes his players will be aware of the wave of emotion that will sweep across Tannadice.
Tomorrow’s game against Kilmarnock will see the club and supporters pay tribute to league-winning legend Ralph Milne, who passed away last weekend.
It will be a day when the loss of such a fantastic player will be felt acutely and the intensity of the occasion will filter through to the United players.
McNamara knows that but feels they will not only cope but will go out and secure a much-needed win.
The Tangerines boss said: “The players will understand the occasion, going into it.
“I have been through things like that in my career as a player many times.
“You focus on the job but the players will also react to the emotion on the day with the fans and everything else.
“It is important that we get the fans up because they will react to what they see on the pitch.
“So it’s up to us to play with a real intensity, create chances and hopefully get a good few goals.
“I’ve not been scratching my head and worrying about the last match because there have been positive signs there.
“Besides the Hamilton game, where we were poor the first half and lost the game, there have been signs that it has been coming for us.
“But we need to start games better and not do anything silly.
“So I would like to see us go 2-0 up and take the shackles off, like we did last year.
“You could see the confidence coming out but it’s been tough in certain games this season.”
“It’s important we give the fans something to shout about and get them behind us because United is a great family club.
With their careers separated by a decade and a bit, McNamara didn’t play against Milne but his dad Jackie senior did.
Jackie junior fondly remembers seeing Milne in full flow for United and paid a warm tribute to the talented frontman.
“I didn’t actually play against Ralph but he played against my father when he was at Hibs and he was a fantastic player,” said McNamara.
“Everyone will always remember him scoring that terrific goal in the Dundee derby (that helped win the Premier League title in 1983).
“He also won a move to Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson so that shows you how highly thought of he was.
“He was a great servant to United.”