Dunfermline may not have had their troubles to seek recently but Dundee United boss Robbie Neilson is under no illusions about the scale of the task facing his side at East End Park tomorrow.
The Pars raced out of the blocks at the start of the season, winning their first five games including a Betfred Cup victory over Premiership Dundee and then their opening Championship fixture against the Tangerines at Tannadice.
However, since then, Dunfermline have only won twice more in the league and lost their latest match on Saturday at home to Queen of the South with pressure mounting on boss Allan Johnston.
Neilson is wary of a backlash but he hopes with the backing of a large travelling support, United can pick up the right result in Fife.
The manager said: “Obviously Dunfermline did well in the Betfred Cup and then they had a great start to the season against Dundee United at Tannadice winning 3-2.
“I watched a bit of the game before I came in here and it was a great performance.
“It has been a bit sticky since then.
“I think they have found it a wee bit difficult to get some momentum.
“But this league is difficult. I watched their game against Queen of the South on Saturday and they probably deserved to win it.
“But they lost a poor goal towards the end and dropped three points.
“It is going to be a tough game as it always is down there.
“But I would like to think we will take a very good support to East End Park and if we display the same energy as we showed the previous two Saturdays, then there is a good chance of getting a result.”
Neilson was only appointed as successor to Csaba Laszlo on the 8th of this month but he admits he has now had time to fully assess the squad at his disposal and he believes there is more than enough talent for the team to progress.
Neilson said: “Definitely. I think there is a good squad here.
“We played Inverness on Saturday who are unbeaten this season and are sitting up at the top end of the league but we should have won the game quite convincingly. It shows we can do it.
“We just have to keep them fit, get them fitter and try to get a consistency in the team to build some momentum.”
Neilson has a win and a draw from his first two games in charge but the former defender is still determined to pick up a clean sheet.
He added: “Yes, we set that as a target every week.
“The goal on Saturday against Inverness was a disappointing one to lose. But we didn’t give up a lot of chances.
“Defensively, I think we are looking pretty decent.
“We just need to continue that and cut out the errors.”
