Scott Fraser will be eyeing joint top of the Championship when he runs out for Dundee United against Hibernian on Friday night in the second tier’s game of the weekend.
He and his team-mates will also be attempting to extend the Tangerines’ impressive recent unbeaten run to 10 games.
And last, but not least, the 21-year-old wants to show that, contrary to reports, United’s 1-1 draw at the Hibees early last month was not the fluke some made it out to be.
Because it would be fair to say Fraser feels claims the Easter Road men were extremely unlucky not to take all three points that day were harsh on United — and it still irks him.
That Sunday lunchtime clash on October 2 saw Hibs lead through a first-half goal from James Keatings but United fought back to earn a share of the spoils via William Edjenguele’s first goal for the club.
And Fraser, for one, believes it was a point his team were well worth.
“I saw a lot of people after the game down there not quite slating us but they were saying Hibs looked a lot better and should have won,” he said.
“I have to say I thought that was a bit harsh. Hibs did have a lot of the ball, I’m not denying that, but they didn’t do much with it.
“Their possession was in front of us and, for most of the game, we felt at ease defensively.
“They got a goal but, apart from that, I didn’t see us in much trouble at the back and we definitely deserved the draw because we defended well.”
And he even goes so far as to argue that, had he and his fellow attackers shown just a bit more composure, the three points might have been heading back to Tayside.
“Where we didn’t do as well as we’d have liked was when we were on the counter attack.
“We had a few good situations but we didn’t make the most of them.
“If we had, we might have got two or three that day. But defensively there wasn’t much wrong with our performance and we deserved our point.”
There’s good reason to believe United will be just as strong at the back in this meeting of the league’s top two.
The last five games have seen their rearguard breached on just one occasion — in the 4-1 victory down at Queen of the South at the beginning of the month.
The aim on Friday will be to maintain that miserly form and Fraser is also keen to see good work at the other end of the park.
“The defence has been doing great and that’s important if you are going to do well.
“Even if you don’t win a match, you must make sure you don’t lose it and that’s what we’ve been able to do at places like Morton last week.
“It was a frustrating game for us because I felt we deserved to win it. Especially in the last half-hour or so, I thought we battered them.
“We didn’t win but we made sure we didn’t lose and that keeps us high in the table.
“It’s Hibs now and, if we put in the kind of performance at the back as we have done in most of our games in the last couple of months, I think we have a good chance.
“This time it’s at Tannadice, so we will be looking to be on the front foot more. We’ll be wanting to take the game to them.
“Don’t get me wrong, with the squad Hibs have they are rightly promotion favourites and this will be a tough game. But we are confident, all the boys are confident because we are on a good run.”
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