Jim Goodwin has called on his Dundee United stars to “relish” the opportunity ahead of them.
The Tangerines are one point ahead of their title rivals in the Scottish Championship with the chance to pull four ahead when Raith Rovers visit Tannadice on Saturday.
There is still a lot of football to be played after this weekend but the result could go a long way to deciding the champions.
Goodwin wants his players to thrive in front of an expected 10,000-plus crowd.
“It’ll be one of the most attended games in the country,” said Goodwin. “The players have got to relish those opportunities.
“We’re competing for a league, at the end of the day. There are plenty of players out there who have had good careers that have never won anything.
“I think that inspires people. There’s a number of different things out there that motivates us and it’s going to be a really important game for both clubs.
“Hopefully we do enough on the day to get all three points.”
Confidence
Raith Rovers have taken two wins and a draw from the previous meetings between the sides this season.
However, Goodwin still gleans some positives from those matches.
“We’ll take a lot of confidence from previous performances against Raith,” he added.
“We feel as if we’re due to win one of these games, and no time like Saturday to go and do that.
“The players are well aware of what’s at stake. They’ve trained really well.
“It’s my job as manager to try and keep them nice and calm and preserve that energy for the Saturday.”
Meanwhile, Scott McMann is expected to be fit to face Raith while David Wotherspoon is rated “50/50” following four weeks out with a calf strain.
Kevin Holt was due to undergo a scan on his knee injury on Thursday.
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