Dundee United’s hopes of automatic promotion this season might just hinge on the outcome of tomorrow’s massive Tannadice clash with Hibs.
And Tangerines legend Dave Bowman believes the players should embrace that fact, not be unnerved by it.
For a start, “Bow” himself has faced the Hibees in a game that was every bit as important but in nothing like as pleasant circumstances.
That was in May 1998 when an Easter Road clash saw the home team facing relegation if they lost but able to drag United into the mire by winning.
Having enjoyed the heights of winning the Scottish Cup in 1994, reaching the Uefa Cup Final and regularly challenging for honours, he still looks back on that day as one of his most important in tangerine.
“We had been dragged down towards the relegation zone and, if we lost that day, we were in big trouble,” he recalled.
“And Hibs knew if they lost they were done. So going into the game there was a lot of pressure.
“It wasn’t the kind of experience we’d been used to and it wasn’t nice but we had to get on with it and make sure we got the job done.
“Thankfully we did. We won 2-1 to make us safe. We were actually behind until late on when Kjell Olofsson scored twice to put us in front.
“We saw the game out and it was a massive victory but it wasn’t one I enjoyed that much because we should never have been in that position.”
For Hibs the result was a disaster and, although Alex McLeish got them back up from the old First Division the following season, it represented a big financial hit. It was a defeat that also cost chairman and leading SPL leading light Lex Gold his job after he decided to resign.
Moving up to date, Bowman believes as great as the pressure to win is, for the players involved on Friday it’s a much more positive situation. He wants Ray McKinnon’s team to relish that.
“Looking at it you could say if we lose this one, that could be our chances of automatic promotion gone.
“We could still catch Hibs but, if they win, it would be very difficult for us because they have a strong squad.
“For me, that’s not something to worry about. It’s just a fact and there’s no point hiding from it.
“But we know if we win, the battle at the top will have been blown wide open.
“As a player, that’s the kind of opportunity you want. It’s definitely a lot better than the situation in that game I played in at Easter Road.
“Never mind going back all that way, just compare it to some of the games when we were trying to stay in the Premiership last season.
“The pressure then was as big, it just wasn’t as nice. On Friday it will be a great feeling to win.”
If United get the win Bowman believes they can, he feels pressure will become the key word for Hibs.
“It’s a bit like when we beat them here earlier in the season. They had a decent gap then as well but we beat them and quickly caught them.
“Win again and it puts them in the same situation. That will leave them feeling uncomfortable.
“I do rate them as a team and, for me, they are almost the Celtic of this division but they’ve been down here for three years now.
“When they got relegated it was because they fell away badly towards the end of the season — and their late-season form in the league has been a problem over the past couple of years, too.”
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