Dundee United’s Andy Robertson has revealed joker John Souttar has been winding him up with a “Wish You Were Here?” picture from his sunshine break.
Souttar, along with Ryan Gauld, flew abroad earlier this week, with manager Jackie McNamara determined to help them recharge their batteries through some rest and relaxation.
Robertson, who shares a flat with the duo, along with under-20 goalie Joe McGovern, admits he was already a little bit jealous of the travelling twosome, a feeling that intensified when the holiday snap came winging in.
However, he believes Gauld and Souttar deserve their break and is certain they will be cheering the team on when United face Ross County in Dingwall today.
He said: “I received a picture from John on Thursday night of him standing in his shorts and T-shirt in the sun.
“He was just winding me up a bit and I have to say I was a little jealous.”
He added: “They didn’t get much of a break in the summer due to Scotland duty so it will benefit them both, and hopefully when they return they’ll have that sharpness back.
“They’ve got to get away from everything and just try to relax and come back fresh.
“If they do that, then we’ll benefit from it.
“The manager can trust them over there, he trusts everyone in the dressing-room so he’d send anyone away if he felt they needed it and those two boys do need it.”
Robertson too has had a busy time of it this season, but he is not feeling the effects.
“I feel fine and I’ll just keep training and playing to the best standard I can.
“I had last season where I played week in, week out, so I’ve had a season of that and I got a long break during the summer, but the two of them only got about two weeks off so it’s going to catch up on them.
“I’m only 19, but John has just turned 17 so that’s a big difference. It’s going to take its toll.
“He’s been away with all the Scotland squads this season so he’s not had a break and Gauldy is the same.
“As much as I’m sure they’ll be loving the sunshine, I know how dedicated they are so they’ll be checking updates on their phones.
“They asked us to make sure we got three points just before they left because we all know that’s the most important thing.”
The last time United travelled to Dingwall they produced one of their finest attacking displays of the season, winning 4-2.
The victory was the launching pad for a five-game unbeaten run and Robertson is hoping a similar result today will spark another fine spell of form.
He said: “We got a great result when we last went to Dingwall and we’ll be looking for the same again.
“We’ve got to get back to getting the ball on the deck and being a bit quicker going forward.
“I think we’re missing that final pass a bit.
“We just need to get a lead to give us something to hold on to, even if we grind out three points, and hopefully we’ll go on a run again.
“I thought we started off well against Inverness last week and then lost an early goal.
“I went off my man and Billy McKay did what he does best score around the box but it was great to come back so early on and although we hit the post twice, they missed a penalty so a draw was probably fair. We’ve drawn the last two, but they’ve been good draws.”
He continued: “The form is coming back. The three defeats were hard, especially in such a short period of time, but it showed our spirit that we came back against Hibs as our heads could have gone down with us staring at a fourth straight loss.”