It’s only November but Dundee United can chalk up a fourth win of the season over Dunfermline when the pair meet in the Irn-Bru Cup at East End Park.
But the Tangerines’ French defender William Edjenguele has warned recent successes will count for nothing once the lunch-time action starts.
And he believes United are facing a team who must come good at some point in the near future.
“Listen, Dunfermline is a team that I do not understand how they are in the bottom of the league,” he said.
“I have played a few of the teams now and with them I see a lot more quality.
“The guy Nicky Clark is a good player and Farid El Alagui, who I believe was at United for a time, is a strong striker as well.
“They have good quality in other areas as well, so I am amazed they are in this position.
“I have beaten them twice and the team has done it three times already, so that shows we have quality as well.
“This game is another story and, at home, I am sure they are going to be more attacking than they were the other night at Tannadice.
“They will press more I am sure but that can suit us because it can give us more space to attack.”
He does admit the teams meeting twice in just four days is less than ideal, though the fact it’s the fourth meeting since July is not a new situation for him.
“For me it’s not a problem because when I was in Switzerland it was a league with 10 teams as well.
“We were playing each other team four times in the league and then sometimes you would get them in the cup. I am used to it, it doesn’t matter.
“Personally I’d rather play another team than have Dunfermline again straight after we met on Tuesday.
“It would be good to have had a team we haven’t played because it’s the cup but you can’t complain, it’s just one of those things that is a bit strange.”
This is his second trip to East End Park. With Cammy Bell saving three penalties in United’s 3-1 Championship win there in September, his last visit isn’t a day he’ll forget. Tomorrow, though, he’s hoping for a quieter time.
“It was great to be part of it when Cammy stopped those three penalties.
“I hope it’s not something we have to do again because I’m a defender and I don’t like seeing us give away penalties.
“I don’t think in my career I’ve been in a game where my team’s given away penalties twice, never mind three times.
“It was a great thing when Cammy made those saves but once was enough.”
Unlike Tuesday night when the Pars attempted to park the bus, that day they had a real go and Edjenguele is guessing their approach in this one will be more akin to the first game.
As a defender, however, he was impressed with their defensive discipline the other night, though admits some tactics were not what he associates with this country.
“I spoke with the boys in the changing-room after the game and said the way Dunfermline played on Tuesday was like how teams play in Greece.
“They slowed everything down, changed sides at the goal kicks and I even saw one guy pull Frank van der Struijk’s arm when he tried to take a throw-in for us quickly.
“I was surprised because I always thought in Great Britain you did not play the game that way.
“It’s OK to do that. It’s not a problem because they’re trying to get a result.
“And I thought they were very well organised defensively and that impressed me.”
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