Dundee United boss Robbie Neilson believes the last two games of the regular season against sides battling relegation will be the perfect preparation for his team’s promotion play-offs.
The Tangerines host bottom-of-the-table Falkirk at Tannadice on Saturday and then travel through to Morton in a week’s time.
All too often, end-of-season matches can be damp squibs but with the Bairns and the Greenock side scrapping for their Championship survival, Neilson insists there can be no let-up from his players before the Premiership play-off semi-final first leg on May 16.
The manager said: “The next two games are against teams who are fighting for their lives.
“So we want to win those matches to keep the momentum going especially on Saturday which is our last home game of the season before the play-offs.
“We need to show we can put on a performance and build that confidence.
“But the two teams are at the bottom of the league and will be right at it.
“You can go into these games and it’s end of season, a waste of time and the standards go down.
“You go from that to 10 days later and you are playing a 200mph play-off game.
“I would hope the last game of the season, at Morton, even means something to them so we can put on a performance.”
While United have cemented their place in second in the Championship, at the other end of the table it is incredibly tight with only six points separating Falkirk from Dunfermline in fifth.
Which is why Neilson is taking nothing for granted against Ray McKinnon’s Bairns tomorrow.
He added: ““There are only 10 teams in the league. Ayr United have done fantastically well, but you are looking at everyone else from the top down, Ross County, Dunfermline, Ayr, there are not really any poor teams in the league.
“There was always going to be a couple of teams down there and Alloa are doing so well when most people would have written them off at the start of the season.
“Time will tell. Falkirk could still end up finishing seventh or something like that. It’s so tight and everyone can beat each other.
“We go into the game on Saturday after Falkirk have just been beaten by Morton, but if we are not at it they could beat us.
“We will make one or two changes and we will still be strong. We will look at it during the game and see where we are.”
