The lure of European qualification should be enough to overcome any lingering knocks or aching muscles within a creaking Dundee United squad.
That is the view of club captain Ross Docherty, who has emphasised that the Tangerines remain just 180 minutes away from cementing a “special” season.
United succumbed to a damaging 2-0 defeat against St Mirren on Saturday, with goals from Mikael Mandron and Jonah Ayunga doing the damage for a physical, aggressive and creative Buddies side. Their triumph was richly deserved.
Boss Jim Goodwin was candid regarding the tiredness within his squad (a claim analysed by Courier Sport in this feature) following a testing campaign with a wafer-thin squad.
He noted: “I think this season has caught up with one or two of us. We’ve got too many players not at 100% and playing through injuries.”
However, Docherty, who missed a couple of gilt-edged chances against the Paisley men, has issued a rallying cry ahead of their trip to Ibrox on Wednesday night.
Asked how United pick themselves up, both physically and mentally, Docherty said: “Honestly, it should be easy.
“We’ve got two games to get the club into Europe, which would be a huge achievement. There’s no better motivation for us. We’ve got to use that drive and just get through this.
“It’s two games left then, in a few days, you can go and enjoy your summer after that.”
Docherty: We won’t fall out with each other
With St Mirren just two points behind United in the race for fifth, the pressure is mounting.
The Buddies host Hibs in midweek while United are at Ibrox, creating the real possibility that the Tangerines could slip out of the top five for the first time since August by 10pm on Wednesday night.
As skipper, and one of the most influential figures in the dressing room, Docherty has a big part to play.
“We had a few words in there (the dressing room) but we’re not going to fall out with each other,” continued Docherty.
“There’s always anger and frustration when you’ve been beaten. We’ll have disagreements about certain things but that happens in every dressing room after every defeat or disappointing result.
“It’s about sticking together and improving.
“We’ve got two massive games to achieve what would be a special thing for this club.”
Ibrox task
United can take positives from their 1-1 draw in Govan in November, while Rangers have won just one of their last eight home games – albeit that was against Aberdeen yesterday.
“There have been times where we’ve maybe had two or three bad results and we’ve then produced,” added Docherty. “That’s down to the character of the team. So, it’s about trying to use what’s gone before as motivation.
“We know it’s going to be tough on Wednesday going to Ibrox but we got a positive result last time, and hopefully we can do the same again.”
Conversation