Dundee United striker Lauri Dalla Valle feels the Tangerines’ season can be revived by reaching the Scottish Communities League Cup semi-finals.
The Tannadice men face Falkirk in the quarter-finals of the knockout competition at home on Tuesday night and are desperate to progress to the last four.
United have struggled in the SPL so far this season, managing only two wins in 12 to slide into third-bottom spot in the table.
They at least improved defensively in the goalless draw against St Johnstone on Saturday (link) and asked if a victory would kick-start their season, Dalla Valle replied: ”Yes, of course.”
He added: ”It is a really big game because if we win it we are in the semi-final and then we can take it from there. We want to go through and it would be a very big thing for the club to get to the last four.
”Also, the league is quite close at the bottom so if we can get on a good run and win two or three games in a row then the league position will look much better too. I feel we can do that.”
Dalla Valle was satisfied with the defensive showing of the team against Saints.
”We had a few chances (against St Johnstone) and we could and should have scored from them,” he said. ”The good thing, though, was that we were much better defensively than in our other games.
”We were more compact and had more heart. We hadn’t kept a clean sheet for a while so it was very important. That was a real positive for us and if only we can start scoring as well we will be OK.”