DUNDEE UNITED manager Robbie Neilson watched his title hopefuls sweep past Queen of the South without star striker Lawrence Shankland and said it proved they were not just a one-man team.
United moved nine points ahead of second-placed Ayr United and 12 ahead of city rivals Dundee with this latest Tannadice triumph to maintain their 100 per cent home record.
Neilson’s men chalked up their fifth straight league win and clean sheet thanks to first-half goals from Paul McMullan and Nicky Clark before Sam Stanton killed the contest early in the second half against Allan Johnston’s lacklustre visitors.
Neilson hailed his Championship leaders who were minus goal-machine Shankland who was in Cyprus with Scotland for their European 2020 Championship qualifying match after chalking up 19 goals already this season.
“I think today was important for everyone,” said Neilson. “Everyone is talking about Lawrence because he’s scored a lot of the goals. Obviously we rely heavily on him but today showed we’ve got other guys who can step up as well when he’s not there.
“It was just a good overall performance. Another clean sheet is good as well. Touch wood we can continue this. We’ve now got a two-week break which sees us go to Cappielow to play Morton next, which will be a very tough game.
“It’s so important we keep our focus. If we can keep winning we’ll be where we want to be come the end of the season.”
Queens beat them 4-0 at Palmerston last month so the hosts had a point to prove. They began brightly enough with Clark sending a free-kick just over the bar in 10 minutes. Soon after, Ian Harkes let fly from 25-yards but the American’s effort went well over the bar.
But they didn’t have too much longer to wait until they made the breakthrough. Harkes started the move by feeding Louis Appere who, in turn, set up McMullan who showed his class by guiding a low 20-yard effort into the net outwith the reach of Robby McCrorie.
It was no more than they deserved although Connor Murray did have the ball in the net, but the Queens attacker was flagged for offside.
Then, five minutes before the interval, Sam Stanton tried his luck with a curling shot from distance which McCrorie was relieved to see drift just narrowly past.
However, Clark made no mistake just a minute before the interval. McMullan’s defence-splitting pass had set him free and the former Rangers striker remained cool to slide his finish from 12 yards into the net.
Neilson’s half-time message would surely have been to stay in the ascendancy and they increased their lead within four minutes of the re-start. Stanton pounced on some slackness within the home defence and skipped past a couple of challenges before steering his left-foot shot past McCrorie.
Stephen Dobbie, who netted twice in Queen’s victory over United in October, did have an ambitious effort saved by Benjamin Siegrist midway through the second half, but it was United who remained in control until the end although Siegrist did pull off a save from Daniel Pybus late on.
“We knew United would start fast after the last game between us,” said Johnston. “But we’re really frustrated with the sloppiness of the goals we lost. When you’re playing against the best team in the league at Tannadice you have got to take your chances, but we failed to do that.
“It’s going to be tough for anyone stopping United. You would imagine Dundee to be up there but at this moment in time it looks as though it will be difficult.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here