Dundee United are still a work in progress but new signing Sam Stanton can already see the ingredients of a title-winning team.
The on-loan Hibs man has come from a club that got the promotion job done last season and a similar mindset to the one Neil Lennon’s men developed over the course of the 2016/17 campaign will serve the Tangerines well.
Stanton, who may make his first start for United against Buckie Thistle in the Betfred Cup tonight, said: “I think anyone who wants to win a league needs to be ruthless.
“You need to be strong on the park and you need to take every game as if it’s a cup final.
“But I think with the players the manager is bringing in we’ve got a good chance of winning the Championship.
“All the foundations are here in place. Dundee United should already be a Premiership team. So it’s our job to get them back there.”
Stanton’s impact on his debut was an immediate one against Raith Rovers – winning a penalty for his team less than two minutes after coming on as a second half substitute.
“I was a nice start to the game for me especially with it being my first game,” he said.
“Raith are a decent side so it’s good result for us and a positive start.
“I signed just before the game. We had spoken before earlier in the summer but nothing had come of it because of my situation with Hibs. But we managed to get it over the line this time round.
“He (Lennon) told me as soon as I came in that I wasn’t going to be part of things at Hibs so I knew that even before the season started. It was no big surprise to me so it was just a case of trying to get away as quickly as possible.”
Stanton, who was farmed out to Dumbarton last season and enjoyed some good results against United, will get his first experience of Buckie this evening.
“I’m looking forward to it,” he said.
“The league is the priority, but we want a cup run as well.
“We want to win every game.”
With the Betrfed Cup games coming in quick succession, the Dundee city derby is looming large.
“I’m looking forward to that game already,” said Stanton.
“It would be good to go into that with some more victories under our belt.”