What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
Unless you are a giddy Wrexham promotion hero sharing the Stateside celebrations with clubmate Sam Dalby, that is.
And the Dundee United loan star is determined to fire the Tangerines to European qualification…before returning the favour.
The Welsh outfit, lavishly funded by Hollywood superstars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McIlheny, will be playing Championship football next season after racking up a third successive promotion.
Dalby could yet be a part of that journey, given Wrexham confirmed in January that they have tabled a contract extension for Dalby to consider – albeit he would face an almighty battle to nail down a starting spot.
“A few of the boys were on Facetime to me in Vegas last Friday, so I know they’re having a good time,” Dalby smiled. “I’m happy for them. I’ll be doing the Facetiming if we get that European place, and I’m sure they’ll all be just as pleased for me.”
And he firmly believes that continental carrot is attainable despite a run of three defeats in a row – conceding 10 goals in the process – allowing St Mirren to cut the gap between the sides to two points.
“We’d rather be in our position than St Mirren’s,” he continued. “We’re still fifth and we’ll keep our heads. There are only two games left – two cup finals.
“Is there pressure? Maybe a little bit, but we’ve always been good at bouncing back when we’ve had some tough runs.
“When we’ve lost a couple of games in a row and, on the outside people think there’s a lot of pressure on us, we’ve tended to bounce back. We’ll look to do that on Wednesday against Rangers.”
Taking confidence
Dalby – who scored when the Terrors claimed a fine 1-1 draw at Ibrox in November – will also be seeking to hit the goal trail after missing a gilt-edged headed opportunity against St Mirren when the score was still balanced at 0-0.
United went on to lost 2-0.
“I’m not worried about missing chances,” he added. “I’d rather get on the end of five chances in a game and miss them all rather than not get any chances. If I’m putting myself in the right positions, eventually they’ll go in.”
Looking at the test posed by a Rangers side that claimed its first home win in eight attempts on Sunday – hammering Aberdeen 4-0 – Dalby added: “I feel like every time we’ve played Rangers we’ve given a good game, especially at Ibrox.
“I think we’ll draw from that and take confidence going into the game.
“Of course, they’ve got great players, but we got a good result there last time and we’ll go into it with confidence that we can do the same thing – and maybe even nick a win.”
Future on hold
Meanwhile, Dalby is adamant he would be doing United “a disservice” if he enters advanced discussions regarding his future before the campaign ends.
The big frontman has been crucial to the Terrors’ push for continental qualification, notching 14 goals and acting as an attacking focal point for Jim Goodwin’s charges.
Goodwin has made no secret of his desire to keep Dalby but, with several suitors circling, that will be a testing proposition.
Blackpool boss Steve Bruce was among those in attendance at Tannadice on Saturday and was believed to be be running the rule over Dalby.
“I’m just focused on the last two games,” he added. “I think it would be a disservice to the club if I started thinking about other things. There’s two big games and I’ll be looking forward to them.
“I’ve always been quite good at just being able to focus on game by game and staying in the moment. That’s what will give me the best opportunity to play well for Dundee United.”
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