Saturday’s call off at Livingston was the last thing Dundee United needed.
In the position they find themselves in at the foot of the Premiership table, they’ll have been chomping at the bit to get back out there to do something about it.
After a five week break where they have no possibility of changing the league table, the Tangerines would have been laser-focused solely on how to beat Livingston.
It’s a game I would have put into the must-win category.
Though there wouldn’t have been any momentum from results, a few weeks working together away from the usual pressure of a season would have built a togetherness among the players.
Following this morning's pitch inspection, today's game with @dundeeunitedfc has been postponed.
The freezing temperatures & snowfall from across the week have impacted both the pitch and caused damage to the stadium which has resulted in today's call off.
Rearranged date TBC. pic.twitter.com/hAmGvJPXWj
— Livingston Football Club (@LiviFCOfficial) December 17, 2022
Now, though, the dynamic has changed and it’s not great for Liam Fox and his side.
Different kettle of fish
Livi are a good team and tough to beat but Hearts are a different kettle of fish.
They will require a completely different tactical plan than the one they’ve been working on over the past few weeks.
It’s now gone from a must-win game facing a team the Tangerines would fancy their chances against to a clash where a draw is probably a good result.
There are a couple of absolutely massive games to come afterwards with Ross County and St Johnstone to come either side of New Year.
But there can’t be any thinking of those ones yet.
It’s easy to fall into that trap, though.
But when you are bottom of the league like United are, you have to put absolutely everything into every chance to get points on the board.
I’ve written before about how incredibly difficult it can be to claw things back when you get cut adrift.
So games being off hurts the Tangerines more than any other team because the chance to do just that is taken away.
Cobwebs
There’s more on top of that as well because the Jambos have had a game under their belts, a good performance and result too in defeating Kilmarnock.
They’ve had the chance to shake off the cobwebs, get some match sharpness while United have been unable to do that.
That’s an advantage for Robbie Neilson’s team.
You can train all you want, play as many friendlies as you want but there’s no substitute for gaining match sharpness in a competitive league match.
Early test
The silver lining to all these clouds is that we’ve seen a few times this season when United have been up against it, they’ve pulled out a big performance – look at Aberdeen and Hibs at Tannadice.
So there has to be a bit of confidence taken from those memories as well as all the work they’ve been doing over the break.
My hope is that lack of sharpness doesn’t show in the early moments of the match.
If they do and Hearts take advantage it could be a really tough afternoon for United.
That call off is damaging to the Tangerines in more than one way.
But they can’t afford excuses now – points are all that matter.
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