Dundee United will go all out to win the game and not just defend their lead when they face Greenock Morton at Tannadice.
That was the promise from right-back Stewart Murdoch as he prepared for tonight’s Premiership play-off quarter-final second leg against Jim Duffy’s men.
United brought a 2-1 lead back home with them from Cappielow on Tuesday and are strong favourites to go through to the next stage to face Falkirk.
However, Murdoch stressed that they won’t be sitting back trying to protect that advantage.
Instead, they will be going for more goals in a bid to put the tie out of Morton’s reach as soon as possible.
He said: “We have to go out to win the game. If you set up to try to defend the lead you leave yourself open to them coming at you and maybe scoring in the first five minutes.
“That would mean your game plan would go straight out the window.
“That was what happened in the Champions League match, with Atletico putting pressure on Real with their early goals.
“So you have to go and kill the tie as quickly as possible.
“We had to chase the game a bit on Tuesday because we weren’t expecting to lose such an early goal but we battled back well.
“We were delighted to get the win but there were definitely no celebrations.
“Even when we went 2-1 up we had to think about either seeing the time out or push for another goal. We kept going for it and almost got a third.”
Murdoch and his teammates have certainly seen enough of the Greenock side this season to know that they will make life tough for them this evening.
“We know we have another big job on our hands,” he said.
“They need to come here and win the game so it will be another difficult match.
“Morton have shown this season that they can compete with anyone on their day.
“So there is no foregone conclusion that we are going to get through just because we have a good record at Tannadice.
“It is going to be difficult because they will throw everything at us.
“They need to come here and win the game.
“We have to stand up to that.”
The home record mentioned by Murdoch is indeed impressive.
Their one defeat in all competitions on their own pitch was a 1-0 loss to eventual champions Hibs back in March, when the Tangerines played for an hour with only 10 men.
Murdoch added: “One thing you really need to do to be successful as a football side is to be strong at home.
“I think we have done that this season.
“Now it has to continue into this game against Morton and another strong performance at home will get us through this tie.”
While it will be tense at Tannadice, considering what is at stake, Murdoch revealed he loves playing with the pressure on him.
He said: “There is a real excitement about these games and I said that to my dad as we drove back from Greenock.
“It is great being involved and knowing you have to achieve in that tie because there is no opportunity to bounce back the following week or two. It has to be done in the moment.
“There is a real pressure there that hopefully our players will be able to deal with and stand up to.
“I’m not sure my father enjoyed watching because it was so tense but as a player I thought it was really enjoyable.
“In the first half we weren’t ourselves, to be honest, and playing into the sun it was really hard to see what was ahead of us.
“When it flipped in the second half, though, I thought we were really comfortable.
“That is the first time I have ever won at Cappielow in my career so it was great time to do it.”
