By Ian Roache

HAVING BROKEN the language barrier, Dundee United frontman Francisco Sandaza is ready to do his talking on the pitch against Aberdeen today.

The Spaniard has been taking English lessons since joining the Tangerines in the summer and is beginning to translate his play into “goles” as his double against Rangers in midweek demonstrated.

Sandaza, who supported Madrid as a boy, has looked like the real deal since signing from Valencia, and he revealed he should only get better now he has a greater understanding of what people are talking about.

“I have been learning to speak English and this has been a big help because I am now more confident speaking to my team-mates,” said Sandaza.

“At first I did not really understand what people were saying, but now I know exactly what the manager means when he speaks to me and on the pitch I can talk with the other players about what to do in the game.

“It is also important to learn English so I can speak to people I meet, read the newspapers and watch TV.

“Everyone has been very good with me and the other players have helped me learn.

“I can understand almost everyone, but some of the players, like Willo Flood and Lee Wilkie, are a bit more difficult,” he joked.

Sandaza is also enjoying life in Scotland, even though he took a while to get used to the climate.

“Dundee is a nice place to live and I have settled in very well,” he added.

“I have moved into a flat in the city and am getting to know my way around now.

“The weather in Scotland is very different to what I am used to back in Spain.

“At first I was shocked that it rained so much, but I am more used to it now and can cope with that.

“I also have satellite TV in my house so I watch the Spanish football and that helps me keep up-to-date with what is happening back home.”

The most important thing for Sandaza is how he performs on the park and his two strikes in midweek served as a reminder to SPL defences that he deserves respect.

And he insisted the best is yet to come from him.

“I wish I had scored more goals, but I hope this season is like the one I had last year in Spain,” he said.

“Then, I started quite slowly and only had five goals at the halfway stage, but in the second part of the season I hit good form and scored another 18 after that.

“I have not set any targets, but I will just try my best and see what happens.

“I am really enjoying being with Dundee United and I think things are going well for the club because we are in third position and in the semi-finals of the (Co-operative Insurance) cup.

“The standard of player is very good and I think we have a team capable of challenging high up the league.

“In our next match we face Aberdeen and I got a goal against them the last time we played them.

“Winning that game was a very big result for the team because since then we have been in really good form.”

Dons striker Darren Mackie, meanwhile, is targeting an improvement in his own and the club’s scoring record.

Aberdeen have netted more than one goal in an SPL match just once this term while Mackie himself has found the net only twice.

“The only league game we have scored twice is at Celtic which is probably the hardest of them all,” he said.

“The players have done a great job at the back in keeping clean sheets recently and now we need to get the goals to take the pressure off defensively.

“The lack of goals has to come to an end at some point and hopefully it will be soon.

“I’ve got two so far myself and feel I have done reasonably well, but I would like to have a few more.”

Aberdeen have failed to take a single point in three visits to Tannadice since Craig Levein took over as manager, but there is plenty of incentive to change that as the Dons would leapfrog their north-east rivals if they ended United’s eight-game unbeaten run stretching back to a win at Pittodrie on September 20.

“United have gone on a very good run since beating us here, but we feel we have the quality in the squad to get a result there,” said Mackie.

Dons boss Jimmy Calderwood’s selection choices are limited as Jamie Smith, Tommy Wright and Stuart Duff are all out through injury along with back-up goalkeeper Bertrand Bossu.

Calderwood, meanwhile, has refused to rule out a dramatic return to Pittodrie for Dean Windass a decade after he left the Dons.

The 39-year-old striker has made just two substitute appearance this term since he scored the £30 million goal that took Hull City into the English Premiership last May and wants a loan move, with Aberdeen topping his list of preferred destinations.

* The Shed End of Tannadice will be occupied by away fans this afternoon.

The match will be preceded by a minute’s silence and both sets of players will be wearing poppies.