JIM GOODWIN | SET THE TONE EARLY ON

United Manager Jim Goodwin admits Sunday's vital victory over Hibernian was a weight lifted off of tangerine shoulders, but reaffirms there is still a considerable amount of work to be done to ensure the Terrors remain a Premiership club next season.

Watch the Gaffer's press conference in full below!

Much Needed

On Sunday, five points adrift at the foot of the table, United hosted Hibernian at Tannadice.

Steven Fletcher opened the scoring on eight minutes with a trademark header from Aziz Behich's inch-perfect cross, before the Terrors were made to rue spurning guilt-edged chances when Mykola Kukharevych cracked home an emphatic finish off the underside of the bar to level the arrears with 70 minutes on the clock.

The grandstand Tannadice finish climaxed when Fletcher was felled by Will Fish in the area, and dead-eyed Ireland international Jamie McGrath converted a 90th-minute spot-kick to ensure the points remained on Tayside.

Reflecting on a breathless cinch Premiership clash, Goodwin began "It's given the whole place a lift as you’d imagine. Not just the playing staff but behind the scenes swell - there was a real sense of relief more than anything else considering how the results played out on Saturday.

"That gap between ourselves and the team in second-bottom going to five points made it crucial we took maximum points on Sunday.

"For us to go and beat one of the better teams in the league, although they are on a difficult run, should give everyone within the squad a sense of what can be achieved if we get it right on the day.

Relief

The 41-year-old was visibly ecstatic when David Munro produced a shrill blow of his whistle to bring proceedings to a close.

"Immediately after the game, there are those emotions of initial satisfaction that you’ve got your first win since coming to the club on a personal level. 

"The overriding emotion is a relief that we’ve been able to get that monkey off our back - you had to go back to early January for the last league win. I'm delighted more so for the supporters who hadn’t had that winning feeling for a long time."

Goodwin claimed the result has added a spring back into everyone's step at the High-Performance Centre this week.

"It makes a difference on Monday morning when you come in off the back of a good result. The boys are looking forward to reading the papers and our video analysis sessions where we look back at the positives and negatives from the weekend - there were far more positives than in recent weeks.

"We’re not getting carried away however, we still have to understand we're bottom of the table and we’re two points behind the team above us but it was a very significant win and gives us confidence going forward."

Fantastic Mr Fletcher

The aforementioned Fletcher, sporting the armband against his former club, led the line with distinction. His outstanding performance merited a place in the SPFL Team of the Week as he joined Celtic frontman Kyogo Furuhashi and in-form Kevin van Veen up top. 

The gaffer heaped praise on the veteran number nine, who leads our scoring charts with eight league strikes.

"There aren’t many who get the better of him in those aerial battles. I think something we haven’t done enough of since I’ve been in is give him enough good quality service. 

???? Bread and butter for a striker of his calibre#UTDHIB | #DUFC pic.twitter.com/hlorGgDIPD

— Dundee United FC (@dundeeunitedfc) April 10, 2023

"Not every ball needs to be a fighting ball, we sometimes need to drop balls into his chest. He has great feet, and his technical ability is very good. He’s far better than I gave him credit for watching from afar but having worked with him for six weeks I appreciate his ability fully."

He continued "He has great movement and awareness of the players around him. If you supply the big man with half a dozen quality balls into the box throughout the game I fancy him to score one or two goals against anybody - it was a brilliant header, and he made it look a hell of a lot easier than it was.

"He led by example, he led from the front. The message on Sunday was how we get more support to him from the midfielders, and that will be very similar going to Motherwell."

Kai Fotheringham

After raising eyebrows with his maturity, attitude and application over recent months throughout a prolonged stint with the first-team, Academy graduate Kai Fotheringham extended his Tannadice stay earlier this week, putting pen to paper on a two-year deal.

"I’m pleased for Kai on a personal level. He took the step to go out on loan. I’m a big advocate of the loan system. It’s always something every club should look to do. There's no better experience for these young teenagers than testing themselves against men in serious competitive football.

"Since I’ve come in he’s been one of the most consistent performers in training with a great attitude. He’s still got a lot of development to do but it's great for the club to tie down one of our prospects to a longer contract."

The 19-year-old spent the first half of this season on loan with cinch League Two outfit Stirling Albion. During his time with the Binos, a scintillating Fotheringham contributed 17 G/A to their title charge.

"Kai was one of Stirling Albion’s star performers in the first half of this season. He had huge contributions in scoring and assisting - it was a good bit of business to call him back in January.

"It’s a reward for him as well because he’ll obviously get an increase on his salary and everything that goes with that. It’s a real positive sign for Kai that we have such belief in him for the future, and hopefully, it’ll inspire the younger players within the academy."

Motherwell Mindset

Looking ahead to Matchday 32, Goodwin is setting a gameplan with clear, and attacking-minded instructions to give United the best chance of walking away from Fir Park with all three points.

"I’ve always enjoyed going to Motherwell - it's one of the best surfaces in the country and full credit to their ground staff. It’ll allow us to put our foot on the ball and play more possession-based football when the opportunity arises.

"We can’t allow Motherwell to put a dent in our progress, we have to go there with the right mindset, defensively organised with a good structure to the team. We also have to carry that same attacking threat going the other way as we did on Sunday.

"Set the tone early on, show intensity and controlled aggression. I still think we need to improve that quality and the belief and trust in each other - we turn over the ball far too easily at the moment but confidence plays a part in that. 

"I said to the guys after the Rangers game that we have to approach every game from now until the end of the season in the right manner - that is to be positive from the offset."

An Example 

The Steelmen have managed to arrest the slump which left them languishing at the foot end of the table in recent weeks. Since the appointment of former Ross County boss Stuart Kettlewell, they have taken 16 points from a possible 21, only defeated by Rangers at Fir Park - a match in which they took the lead.

The Irishman, approaching his sixth match in post, insists his United squad can take inspiration from 'Well's change in fortunes.

"I think there are a few teams in the league on great runs, Motherwell have had five wins in their previous seven games. 

"There are plenty of examples for the squad to realise you can string some results together if you apply yourselves properly. We’re all in agreement the team has underachieved this season, but I always believed there was quality within the group - I wouldn’t have taken the job otherwise. 

"There is just a real sense of togetherness and team spirit within the group and we very much believe we are capable of turning this around.

"Performances throughout the last few games since I have come in have been very good. Of the five games we’ve had two draws, a great victory and a couple of defeats against two very good sides - we’re in a decent place at the moment just need to carry that momentum."

Team News

To round off, a brief update on team news was offered by the United boss.

His squad managed to escape a vicious and unrelenting battle with Hibernian unscathed but are still hamstrung by long-term absentees such as Glenn Middleton, Dylan Levitt, Liam Smith and Peter Pawlett.

"We’re all good apart from the injuries mentioned prior to Hibs, we haven’t picked up any fresh ones. The squad who were available for that game are available for the game against Motherwell.

"Glenn is making great progress. Our target for him was always post-split so if we have him available for the last five games of the season it’ll give everyone a real boost - he’ll be like a new signing.

"We’ve missed that little bit of pace at times at the top end of the pitch which is why we pushed Aziz Behich higher on Sunday to give us an out ball. Middleton coming back in the next couple of weeks will give us another good quality dimension up there."

Dynamic midfielder Peter Pawlett has unfortunately faced a further setback and faces another spell on the sidelines heading into the final seven matches of the season.

"Peter has another hamstring strain at a different part of the tendon. It’s a real setback for him and for us because he’s a very important player for us but more so for Pete. We know how hard he worked to get back from his previous injury so everyone feels very sorry for him. 

"We’re not ruling him out for the season, he’s going to work hard with the medical team and hopefully in two or three weeks we’ll have a decision to make on him."