Dundee United defender Ross Graham is ready to “set standards” after spotlighting the competition for places at Tannadice.
The Scotland under-21 international was dropped from the Tangerines’ starting line-up in the aftermath of their 2-1 home defeat against St Johnstone on October 1.
Scott McMann was solid in his stead, helping the Terrors claim victories over Aberdeen and Hibernian before retaining his spot for the subsequent five matches.
However, with United keen to add more defensive stability and physicality to their ranks, Graham returned to the side for recent outings against Kilmarnock — an impressive 4-0 triumph — and the Dons.
The boyhood Arab impressed in both fixtures, particularly during an outstanding showing in that Killie triumph.
“I had a few weeks on the sidelines but was itching to get back in,” Graham told Courier Sport. “Getting two games in a week was good and I’m happy to be back in the team.
“To start off, when I was left out of the side, the boys did well and got a couple of wins.
“But I never stopped working hard on the training field, trying to impress the gaffer (Liam Fox) every day. My only focus was earning a place in the team.
“I think that period also showed the strength of our squad.
“We have boys that can come in and fill the same positions that I do — so you know that you need to be bang at it, every game. You need to set your own standards.”
Respect
Despite a narrow 1-0 defeat at Pittodrie on Saturday — meaning United concluded their pre-World Cup schedule at the bottom of the Premiership — Graham believes there were positives to take from the showing.
The towering defender made a couple of superb back-post clearances during the fixture and, aside from a failure to ‘take one for the team’ by halting the counter-attack which led to the Dons’ decisive penalty, was again excellent.
“Nobody wants to get beat but you’ve got to take positives from defeats and that performance was a good stepping stone,” added Graham.
Indeed, that theme of reflecting and regrouping will be common in the coming weeks.
Upon their return from a short break, United will embark on three weeks of solid work — effectively a second pre-season and, perhaps more importantly, an opportunity for head coach Fox to further impart his ideas and expectations.
“This will be the first time we’ve properly had a few weeks to work under the new manager, purely on the training field,” added Graham. “That can only help to get his points across and get everyone on the same page.
“The games were coming thick and fast, whereas this time will give us a chance to reflect on things.”
Graham added: “All the boys listen to him (Fox) and he’s got the respect from everyone here. We’ll work hard, knuckle down and give everything to get points on the board.”
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