Csaba Laszlo has warned young midfielder Christoph Rabitsch he has to stay on the park to stay in his team.
Dundee United were forced to withdraw the 22-year-old Austrian at half-time in Saturday’s defeat against Dunfermline because of a couple of wild tackles after he’d already been booked.
The same happened in the recent Betfred Cup clash with Alloa and now his gaffer has told him his game management must improve.
Csaba felt having to make the change was a key moment as the Tangerines slumped to defeat after leading at the interval.
“I had to change things in the second half because Christoph Rabitsch made this foul and after I think he was very close for the second yellow card,” said Csaba.
“In the second half, definitely, without him it didn’t work out how it was in the first half in the middle of the park. He is an important player for us.
“Generally, I don’t want to push just the responsibility on him and also if you are in the field, you are 1-0 at half-time, in the second half you must be more clever to manage the game.
“But it is not OK that you have to take somebody out like this. Also it happened in the last game because he was very close to the second yellow card.
“It is your responsibility to manage your game so that the team is the most important. It is the second time now.”
Overall, Csaba was left bitterly disappointed with an opening-day loss that saw United drop out of the game after the interval.
“I am disappointed for the fans, disappointed as a manager that you take three goals in 45 minutes. You have a very good goalkeeper, you have a very good defence in the pre-season. Every team was struggling against our defence.”
United are still working to strengthen their squad and should add another striker during the course of this week.
The identity of the player has not been revealed but talks are at an advanced stage and he is expected to be fixed up in the next day or so.
Austrian trialist Toni Vastic also remains on Csaba’s radar.
He spent last week training with the squad and, although the new target has been given priority, he could still be offered a deal.
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