Jim Goodwin is adamant Ollie Denham remains part of Dundee United’s plans as he challenged the on-loan Cardiff City defender to battle for a jersey.
The Tangerines boss has acknowledged that Denham “didn’t cover himself in glory” in his two outings for United to date, with Blair Henderson and Brian Graham giving the youngster a torrid time in defeats against Spartans and Partick Thistle, respectively.
The Wales under-21 international has not made a competitive appearance since that 2-1 reverse against the Jags and, with Declan Gallagher cementing the right-sided centre-back berth, patience will be key.
But Goodwin has praised Denham’s potential and urged him to grasp his opportunity, whenever it may arrive.
“Ollie has played half-a-dozen games in the English Championship, which is an extremely competitive level,” said Godwin. “He travelled with the Wales (preliminary) World Cup squad and they have high hopes for him down at Cardiff.
“In the Spartans and Partick Thistle games, he didn’t cover himself in glory. He is quite honest about his performances within those.
“We then had the opportunity to sign Declan Gallagher. He is a guy who I have worked with previously. I really like him and he has good experience. We’ve had four clean sheets out of the five games since then.
“Big Dec (Gallagher) has the jersey and that is just the way it is.
“But Ollie is still very much part of our plans. We’ve got a loan in place with Cardiff and he has to fight for the jersey. It is a long season. People get suspended and injured and when he does get back in, he has to make sure he does his job.”
Burnley challenge
Meanwhile, Goodwin has revealed that United expect to line up against Burnley’s first-team when they face the English Premier League new boys at their training base this afternoon.
The Tangerines are seeking to maintain their fitness and match sharpness with an onerous test against Vincent Kompany’s side, having been knocked out of the Viaplay Cup at the group stage.
“We will play against their first-team on Friday,” Goodwin added. “We have a number of players that haven’t played a great deal in recent weeks.
“It is a good opportunity to get them some minutes and, from our own perspective, you don’t like have too many gaps in the calendar.
“It is important we keep the group ticking along and it is a very good game against good opposition, at a fantastic training facility.”
Conversation