Liam Fox has backed Stevie Crawford to help Dundee United’s strikers hit the goal trail.
Fox has lavished praise on the United assistant’s ability to improve attackers, pinpointing the stellar work Crawford did with a young Kevin Nisbet while at the helm of Dunfermline.
Although Nisbet was coming off the back of a 34-goal campaign with Raith Rovers, he tackled the step up to the Championship with aplomb in 2019/20 and rippled the net 23 times for the East End Park outfit.
That proved to be the launchpad for a move to Hibs and, ultimately, Scotland recognition.
And Fox is confident Crawford can have a positive impact on the likes of Sadat Anaku and Tony Watt, with the latter scoring his first goal since February against St Johnstone at the weekend.
“There were a number of reasons for bringing Stevie to the club,” said Fox. “But one of those was the work he had done previously with players at the top end of the pitch.
“I have seen it first hand at Hearts, I have seen it with players he has worked with at different clubs and different levels — especially at Dunfermline.
“The work he did there with Kevin Nisbet helped him and improved him.
“So that is one of the reasons I brought Stevie in, with the detail and information he adds and gives to the attacking players.”
Watt an impact
Fox, meanwhile, insists he was heartened by the response of Watt to being dropped to the bench for Saturday’s 2-1 defeat against the Saintees.
“I think the best way a player can come back from being left out of the team is to go on the pitch and affect the game,” continued Fox. “Tony absolutely did that. That’s credit to him.
“We need to get that more consistently from him and that’s what we are working towards with him.
“No-one has a divine right to play every game — let’s make that clear.
“But I was very pleased with his response and it will be good for him to get that that feeling of hitting the back of the net again.”
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