Defender Stewart Murdoch admits it’s been a frustrating couple of weeks at Dundee United.
A heavy home defeat at the hands of Championship leaders Ayr United followed by letting in a late equaliser at Morton last week means an explanation as to why doesn’t have to be given.
Even so, Murdoch insists there remains a feelgood factor at Tannadice, as well as confidence and determination this will be the campaign when the Tangerines finally get out of the second tier.
And he’s determined another indication of that will come via a victory at promotion rivals Inverness CT tomorrow.
“This is my third season at United and I know it’s important in this division you don’t get too carried away when things are going well because they can change so quickly,” he said.
“Equally, you have to make sure you don’t get too down when you have a couple of disappointing results like we just have.
“We’ve seen in the last seven or eight weeks from when the manager came in, where we were then and where we are now.
“When he arrived we’d have been delighted if we knew we were going to win as many points as we have, it’s just the past couple of results haven’t been what we wanted.
“We will go again and there are so many games to play, we know we can make up for those results against Ayr and Morton.
“There’s a real feeling within the dressing-room that we can go and beat anyone. That’s why it’s so frustrating when you don’t win maximum points but this is another game we can go and win.
“We feel we are still on a good run and I think it’s maybe because two bad results have come back to back that people are maybe getting a wee bit more concerned than they should be.
“Games come round so fast that you soon have the chance to put things right. And if we go up to Inverness and win it will be a really good result and we will feel we’re back on track.”
Murdoch knows it will be no easy task in the Highlands and expects a game that will take a 90-minute effort to win.
“They are a stuffy side, the kind of side who just won’t go away in games. It seems like they have drawn thousands of games but that just shows how difficult they can be to play against.
“It’s one where if you go one up you want another because they have shown they are capable of fighting back in games.
“That’s always the case whoever you’re playing – you go one up and you want another because it makes you secure. We saw that last Saturday.
“We needed to get the second goal at Morton to feel safe, we didn’t and paid the price.
“Hopefully, this time we can get a couple of goals and have that cushion you want. We didn’t get it last week and I think in the second half we maybe got sucked into not playing the nice football we normally back ourselves to play.
“It is very frustrating when you lose a goal late on when you are almost over the line. It feels like you have thrown two points away instead of one of those draws when you are walking away with a good point.”
When the teams met in October at Tannadice, ICT showed that ability to fight back in games when ex-United man Coll Donaldson grabbed a late equaliser for them.
That was another one of those frustrating draws Murdoch talked about, though he believes the performance that day gives reason for confidence this time round.
“We look back at the draw at Tannadice when we last played them, and because we were ahead and on top, it was more points that got away but we feel like we showed we have the quality to get three points and, hopefully, that’s what we go and do.”
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