Dundee United boss Jackie McNamara has vowed to lighten the burden of expectation on David Goodwillie’s shoulders.
McNamara raised eyebrows across Scottish football when he dropped the on-loan Blackburn Rovers striker for Sunday’s Premiership game against Ross County.
Of course, the Tannadice gaffer was vindicated when he watched his team slaughter the Staggies with some brilliant attacking football. Goodwillie did eventually come on as a substitute but couldn’t add to United’s tally of four.
McNamara is relaxed about giving Goodie time to regain his confidence, considering Ryan Gauld, Nadir Ciftci, Gary Mackay-Steven and Stuart Armstrong all got on the scoresheet in Dingwall.
And he insisted he will be aiming to ease the pressure on the player.
“I hope that a couple of goals can really kick-start Goodie’s game,” said McNamara.
“What he now needs to do is get his confidence back and get back playing again. That’s what is important. He has scored against St Johnstone but it does take time.
“There is definitely an expectation level when it comes to David because of what he achieved for United in his first spell here. There is a lot of pressure on the lad and I see it as my job to try and take some of that pressure off him.”
“The good thing for the club is that the goals are being spread around the team,” said McNamara.
“It is not as if we are relying on him alone to put the ball in the net. We are all hoping that he will kick on but the most important thing is getting the right results.
“We did make changes on Sunday and thankfully they worked well. It’s a team game.”
Central defender Calum Butcher trained on Tuesday after illness ruled him out of the 4-2 win at Victoria Park.
McNamara said: “Everyone is fine now. Calum wasn’t well so that’s why he didn’t feature against Ross County. He didn’t even travel with us.”