Dundee United head coach Tam Courts has hailed his side for seeing out the closing moments against Arbroath with 10 men.
Substitute Archie Meekison had to leave the pitch with an injury with 15 minutes remaining in United’s 1-0 Premier Sports Cup Group B win at Tannadice yesterday.
Due to having already used their designated amount of intervals to make changes, despite only making four subs, the Terrors had to play the final stages a man short.
They were able to do so and, in the process, all but booked their place in the knockout stages for the first time since 2017, with the Tangerines top of their section on nine points after a perfect start to the new season.
‘We had to show resilience’
Gaffer Courts said: “I’m very pleased indeed, we are coming into these games trying to manage minutes and give people opportunities as the competition gets stiffer.
“Arbroath are probably the nemesis of most full-time teams as they are a match for anyone on their day. They showed that yesterday.
“We were terrific and the goal came at a good time. We had to show resilience playing with ten men the last 15 minutes.
“I’m really pleased. It’s two clean sheets in three games.”
Meekison update
Courts also gave an update on Meekison’s condition, with the 19-year-old midfielder suffering an ankle knock after a heavy challenge.
He added: “It’s frustrating for Archie as he got tackled from behind.
“He was beginning to control the game and I think Arbroath noticed that and maybe wanted to take things into their own hands.
“He has a nasty ankle knock so we had to play with ten men.
“He is being assessed so I don’t know the extent of it but he indicated something was wrong and he wasn’t comfortable.”
Mulgrew winner training ground move
As for Charlie Mulgrew’s free-kick winner on 21 minutes, Courts revealed the 35-yard strike was a variation of training ground move No 2 Liam Fox has been working on with the players.
He commented: “I must give a lot of credit to Liam and the players because they do a lot of work on the set-plays.
“We have scored two goals in three games from set-plays and they are worked routines, so it’s great from the boys.”
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