Tony Watt believes the last four years have seen him produce the best football of his career as the Dundee United attacker declared: “30 is the new 20.”
Watt celebrated the landmark birthday on December 29, marking the occasion with his maiden senior hat-trick against Partick Thistle.
It took his tally for the campaign to nine goals in 27 outings, a fine haul considering he has been deployed in an advanced midfield role – with ample defensive duties – for much of the season.
And Watt is relishing his time at Tannadice, just as he did at Motherwell prior to the 2022 switch.
He told the BBC’s Scottish Football Podcast: “I feel like it has been the best football I’ve played. Even at times, if I’m not scoring, I’m assisting. If I’m not doing that, then my all-round game has been good.
“Before Motherwell, there was maybe a two-and-a-half-year period where I just wasn’t settling. I had agreed a contract at Cardiff, then that fell through. I ripped my groin off the bone at Blackburn.
“But the Motherwell and Dundee United spells have been good for me; being back home and around people. In the last four years, I’ve really enjoyed having a purpose in a team.
“I’m 30 – and I think 30 is the new 20.
“I hope to extend it (career) as much as possible and play until my legs can’t go any more.”
Watt’s stint at Tannadice was interrupted by a loan move to St Mirren last January after he fell out of favour with previous boss Liam Fox. In his absence, United crashed to relegation.
He added: “My only regret is last season.
“I would have liked to have been able to help Dundee United more. But it was taken out of my hands.”
Preaching patience
Now a mainstay of Jim Goodwin’s United side, Watt is determined to spearhead a title charge – even if that means preaching patience to any anxious Arabs in attendance.
But he is embracing the pressure and demands at Tannadice.
Tony Watt at the back post! 🪄
With minutes to go, the Dundee United skipper finally breaks the deadlock in Inverness!#BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/YmFZofIfMq
— BBC Sport Scotland (@BBCSportScot) January 12, 2024
“The pressure is something you relish,” he added. “You want those butterflies before you go out. If you are numb to it and have no adrenaline, then you won’t enjoy the wins. And if you lose, you won’t care.
“Sometimes, in games, they (fans) boo. We like to play out from the back, keep possession and drag teams. Sometimes they can get a bit impatient if we are doing that.
“I’ll always tell them to calm down. We have a decent style of play this year.
“It must be hard if they just want us to go up the park to score two, three, four goals – but we keep the ball, try to unlock defences and that has brought us a few big scoring results.”
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