Dundee United Manager Jim Goodwin spoke to the broadcast media to preview our William Hill Premiership clash with Motherwell on Matchday 27.

The boss discussed Craig Sibbald's comeback, returning to form, utilising home advantage and more!

ON CRAIG SIBBALD’S IMPENDING RETURN TO ACTION

He's been back training with the group this week, which obviously we're all delighted about. We all recognise what an important player he was for us last season - he was our player of the year. 

He's had a really difficult time with injuries but it’s just about building him up now and getting his fitness to the levels where they need to be so that he can feature regularly for the team. 

We've got a decision to make with regards to the squad. We've got a number of players now who are available and obviously Craig comes into consideration for that.

He's nowhere near ready to start a game as I don't think anybody would expect him to anyway, having been out for over three months. It's great to have him back, he's a top player for us and a great professional. He sets high standards in training during the week and we're fortunate to have him available again. 

ON WHETHER HIS RETURN WILL FEEL LIKE A NEW ADDITION TO THE SQUAD

Yes, it definitely does. When players like that are out for such a considerable period of time then you're always relieved to have them back. Some of the guys who have recently joined the club only trained with him for the first time this week because he's been out for that significant length of time.

It is like having a new signing and he's coming back at a really significant period in the campaign. For me as a manager, it's great to have those options available. 

ON FURTHER TEAM NEWS

Everybody else is okay. We've got good strength in depth now and that will stand us in good stead in the busy period that we've got coming up. 

We've got three games next week, great games, all really exciting ones to look forward to and it's going to take the whole squad to ensure that we get the points we need. 

ON MOTHERWELL’S NEW MANAGER BRINGING A DEGREE OF UNPREDICTABILITY

It's definitely not ideal that you go and play against a team that has a new manager and there are no games to analyse. In fairness to my analyst, he's been working tirelessly behind the scenes to try and get some footage from some previous clubs.

It's very difficult for us to try and predict what the system and personnel are going to look like, and what their game plan is likely to be.

The main focus for us has always been on ourselves, making sure that we're in the right frame of mind, making sure we're solid defensively and doing what we've been good at all season which is what put us in this really strong position.

Focus is on ourselves - we respect the opponent but we realise if we play to the levels that we're capable of then we've got more than enough to go and win the game. 

ON OUR RECENT DIP IN FORM

There's no getting away from the fact that, on paper, the last half a dozen results or so haven't gone the way we would have liked but I always think it's important to put these things in perspective. 

We've played Celtic twice during that period at Parkhead, Rangers at home and the other games have been narrow defeats where there hasn't been a great deal between the teams. We're still in a very good position as far as we're concerned, and there's still a feel-good factor about the group.

It's an exciting time for the club, the players and the supporters, and I think if you'd have offered us this position way back at the beginning of the campaign we all would have taken it. 

ON HITTING THE GOAL TRAIL AGAIN 

Sometimes, you've got to credit the opposition and I think that has certainly been the case in some of the games. They've been very difficult opponents, I think we're at that stage of the season now where there isn't a great deal in the games.

I think there's a lot of nerves and a bit of anxiety as well at times and you've seen that in some of the games - certainly hasn't been for the lack of trying on our part. 

We've been creating opportunities but we have to just get back to doing the basics well in front of goal and keep supplying the service for the likes of Sam Dalby, Ruari Paton, and Louis Moult and Jort van der Sande. 

We can’t just rely on Sam (Dalby), we need everybody to chip in and that's from the defence through to the midfield and beyond. 

ON SAM DALBY’S LONG-TERM FUTURE

There's no surprise that Sam has got a lot of attention off the back of what he's done for Dundee United. We believed in him before we brought him to the club, I always felt his game was suited to the Scottish Premiership and that's why he's among the top goal-scorers in the league at the moment.

It's been a really successful loan for everybody. To answer your question - do we want to try and hold on to him - of course we do. We'll be at the table having those conversations in the summer.

Some of these teams out there have got bigger budgets and we're quite realistic about that aspect of it as well. All I can say is that Sam has loved his time at Dundee United and he's really appreciated what the club have done for him. We've given him that opportunity to put himself in the spotlight if you like, I know he's very grateful for that. 

Sam has played a huge role in putting us in the position we're in right now - I know he's got one eye on being the top goal scorer in the Premiership, which would be a hell of an achievement for him. 

ON A VOCAL HOME CROWD NULLIFYING THE STEELMEN’S NEW MANAGER BOUNCE

The supporters have been outstanding for us this season - we’ve sold the stadium out on numerous occasions this year. If you put a good product on the park, you make it exciting and you win games of football, then the supporters will come out in good numbers. 

We need them over the next 12 games to help us achieve that objective of getting top six. We never for one minute believed that we had achieved it at any point up to now.

We always maintained the fact that there was still a lot of football to be played and that's still the case. There are a lot of teams fighting for different things within the league, whether it's in the relegation battle, top six, European places - everybody has something to play for.

As I keep saying, we've put ourselves in a great position. Results of late haven't been what we would have liked, but at the same time, we're very confident going into this run of fixtures. I think it's exciting for everybody and the supporters as well. I hope they continue to turn out in good numbers and get behind the team on Saturday. 

ON UTILISING HOME ADVANTAGE

Our home form has been good, as has our away form to be perfectly honest, our balance of points home and away is quite consistent I think. 

You'd always rather play at your own stadium in front of your own supporters and generate a good atmosphere, which has been the case in the main this season at Tannadice. But there are no easy games home or away - you've got to perform and everybody needs to be consistent. 

We need to do our jobs properly defensively and get back to giving our strikers those goal-scoring opportunities that they crave. We're happy with the fixtures that we've got to come, but none of them on paper look all that straightforward. 

ON LOCKING IN OUR TOP SIX TARGET

I said at the beginning of the season that the first objective was to try and achieve enough points to make sure that we stayed in the league. I don't think we're quite there yet. We've still got a bit of work to do before we can say that that's guaranteed and secure.

But we have put ourselves in a genuine position to go and compete for those top six places. Of course, the likes of Hibs and Hearts are going on a really strong run at the moment, I would expect Aberdeen to pick up with the recruitment that they've done in January as well, Kilmarnock have been on a decent run and St Mirren will have questions to ask.

There's a real fight on and there's still a hell of a lot to play for. We haven't achieved anything yet and we've just got to make sure we keep working hard over these next seven fixtures to give ourselves the best opportunity possible of remaining in this top six.

ON RIGHTING MOTHERWELL WRONGS

There's no hiding from the fact that Motherwell have beaten us on three occasions this year by the odd goal. There was never a great deal between the two sets of players on the day - every game was in the balance albeit, Motherwell came out on top on each occasion. We have to try and turn that in our favour on Saturday. 

We don't know what to expect from Motherwell in terms of their system, shape, or personnel. We can just focus on ourselves and make sure that we do our jobs to the best of our ability. I believe if we do that, then we give ourselves a great chance of getting all three points.

ON THE CONGESTION BETWEEN 3RD AND 11TH PLACING MORE IMPORTANCE ON THIS CLASH

It definitely does. It's hard to say at this moment what the number is going to be in terms of points and what's going to guarantee top six. If you go back over the last decade or so, on average, it's been about 43 points.

The target that we have set for ourselves way back at the beginning of the season is a little bit more than that, to be honest, so we've got a bit to go to try and achieve that.

A couple of seasons ago, Dundee crept into the top six with 39 points and it’s definitely not going to be the same this season. It's hard to say with so many teams going on good runs at the moment, we're on the opposite side of that at the moment. 

We've hit a little bit of a bad patch in terms of the results that we've had, albeit we've played some difficult opponents within that. It's exciting for the group that we've got these big fixtures to look forward to and a real opportunity to achieve something really, really positive. If we were to get top six, I think it would be a fantastic achievement for the group.

ON OWEN STIRTON’S FLYING START AT LINKS PARK 

I’m delighted for Owen - the loan system is something that I'm a big advocate of. I've spoken previously about the set-up within the Scottish game at the moment and something needs to change with regards to the pathway for younger players into the first team. 

At the moment, we don’t have a reserve team between the under-18s and the first team. It's a hell of a big step. That loan system is vital for us to get some of our younger players senior experience. 

Owen's one that we've got real high hopes for. The plan was always to send Sam Harding out in the first half of the season, then bring him back into the fold for the second half to get him in and around the group.

We've done the opposite with Owen. We kept him in the group in the first half, send him out the second half and I'm delighted with the progress that he's making. 

We've got a really good relationship with Montrose. There's a lot of ex-Dundee United guys there, myself and Sean Dillon have known each other a long, long time.

We're happy to help them out, but at the same time, they're helping us out as well by giving these boys game time. Owen has got off to a flyer and his confidence is high. Long may that continue!

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