His gaffer insists the opposition are favourites but Scott Fraser believes Dundee United will go on and claim victory in tonight’s play-off quarter-final second leg against Dunfermline at Tannadice.
Looking back at Tuesday’s goalless first leg at East End Park, the midfielder feels it was a result that could have been even better but also might have been worse.
And, ultimately, the fact the draw was an outcome the Tangerines would have accepted before kick-off means, for him, it was a case of job done on the night.
Well, part one at least and now he’s intent on finishing it off in the right fashion.
“It could have been a win on Tuesday but before the game we would have taken a goalless draw,” he said. “With the run they’ve been on it is always a hard place to come, so the draw isn’t bad.
Dundee United and Dunfermline battled out a 0-0 draw in the first leg.“When they go down to 10 men in the second half, obviously, we think that is maybe our chance to nick a goal and come back to Tannadice ahead in the tie.
“We had chances and didn’t convert, so we’re a bit disappointed in that sense but they had chances as well and, in the end, the draw was probably a fair result.
“When they went down to 10 men there were a couple of boys out on the pitch mentioned it was about being patient from then on.
“Fans tend to think it’s easy when you have a man advantage, but sometimes it becomes harder because teams just sit in and try to hold on to what they’ve got.
“That’s what Dunfermline did and fair play to them, they did it well. Now, though, we will fancy our chances going back to Tannadice.”
And Fraser believes the United playing surface will give them an added advantage in the second leg.
“It was a typical play-off. There’s a lot of pressure on teams in these situations and you know winning or losing can come down to small margins, so it was all a bit frantic at times.
“We were trying to get our game going on a pitch that wasn’t great, so that was difficult and it suited them to put the ball in behind and run.
“Tannadice should suit us better because our surface there is good and we can pass the ball. We’ll water the pitch and that will suit us when we get the ball down and try to pass it out from the back.”
He’s also in no doubt knowledge gained from previous play-offs also has to give them an edge.
“We do have a few boys who were in the play-offs last year with us or have played in them for other teams in the past and that helps. We know what to expect and how to handle it.
“Last year at this stage we went down to Morton and got a good result, then came back to Tannadice and won well and we’ll be looking to do the same again tonight.
“We’ve also got a lot of experienced boys like Scott McDonald, Bilel Mohsni and Willo Flood and they’re all a big help.”
After his long injury lay-off because of well-documented problems with a broken foot, starting two games in three days will be a challenge, but he reckons he’s back to 100% fitness.
“I’ve been working hard on it over the past couple of weeks and I was happy with the way I got through the 90 minutes on Tuesday.
“We had the wee break last week in terms of no midweek game for a change and that meant I was able to put in some good work in training.”
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