Dundee United boss Mixu Paatelainen insists Luis Zwick is more than capable of filling the boots of injured first-choice keeper Eiji Kawashima.
The Japanese goalie is suffering from a thigh injury and will miss this afternoon’s William Hill Scottish Cup quarter-final against Ross County in Dingwall.
Zwick started the season as the club’s No.1 but was dropped following the 5-0 defeat to Celtic back in October with Michal Szromnik taking his place between the sticks.
The Polish goalie was subsequently replaced by Kawashima for the derby with Dundee on January 2.
Now though, Paatelainen has once again had to turn to 21-year-old German stopper Zwick.
The manager, who will also be without the injured Guy Demel and Callum Morris for the Staggies cup tie, said: “Luis is a good goalkeeper. We brought in Eiji because of his experience and the situation we have been in most of the season has been a difficult one.
“It’s possibly unfair on an inexperienced goalkeeper but there’s no question Luis is a good goalkeeper and knows exactly what is expected of him.”
Considering United’s current perilous league predicament, it would be understandable if Paatelainen was tempted to rest key players for the cup game.
However, he insisted that was the furthest thought from his mind.
He added: “We can’t start thinking about resting players, we can’t take a match like this lightly. We take it seriously, it’s the quarter-final of the Scottish Cup. It’s a great opportunity for us and a cup run will not harm our league job at all.
“We’ll try our best and field the strongest team we can. If not, Ross County will murder us they’re a fantastic team, very well organised.”