Johnny Russell was the star of Dundee United”s clinical five-goal demolition of Stranraer at Stair Park and the Tannadice side clearly face a fight to hold on to his services.
The striker not only bagged a hat-trick, but also set up the other two goals in an all-action display. It was the striker”s second three-goal haul in tangerine, the other having come in the 6-2 win at Airdrie United in the opening round of last season”s national knock-out tournament.
This latest treble takes his tally to 11 for the season, to average better than a goal every two games, and only makes the 22-year-old even hotter property.
Earlier this season United knocked back a bid from Huddersfield for his services and a continuation of his current form can only make future offers inevitable.
However, Jon Daly, who benefited twice from Russell assists on Saturday, is urging his striking partner to extend his Tannadice apprenticeship a little longer, citing the experiences of both David Goodwillie and Scott Allan after their recent moves south.
The captain pointed out: “Goodie was playing well and scoring goals for us, but the money offered for him saw him move on, but like Scott Allan, he would have benefited from staying on and developing further.
“Scott”s experience of finding himself loaned out in the lower leagues should strike a chord more than the Goodie situation.
“Unless the same thing happens with a bid that the club can”t refuse, I think he would be better hanging around for a while because he is playing good football and continuing to learn his trade.”
Obviously, from a selfish stance, the United skipper would like his partnership to be maintained, fully appreciating the support he gets from his fellow striker.
“He is a fantastic talent, as he showed today by being involved in all the goals, setting up two for me and scoring three himself.
“His movement is great and he is very unselfish and was on a hat-trick and could easily have turned to shoot but instead rolled it to me for an easy finish.
“I know that if I go up for a challenge to head the ball, he is going to be on his bike to try and get on the end of it and I think that we have a good partnership going at the moment and long may that continue.
“And if he keeps doing that he can certainly go a long way in the game. However, if he is to reach the very top he needs to keep working hard and try and develop and I really believe that for the moment he is in the right place for that.”
Manager Peter Houston is in complete agreement with his skipper”s advice to Russell. “I think Johnny needs another year before he is ready to move on.
“There are bits of his game when he is playing against better opposition that need improving.
“I said when Goodie moved he was ready for the move, but I think Johnny is playing every week and, if he went down to the Premiership, he wouldn”t play every week.
“Indeed, an awful lot of players who have moved down south from the side that won the Scottish Cup aren”t getting regular games, even in the Championship.
“The important thing for Johnny at this stage of his career is that he is playing football at a decent level and I think that the standard of football in the SPL can be very, very good.”
While Houston confirmed bids for the player wouldn”t be welcome, he is pragmatic. “No, we don”t want to lose Johnny but, in the same breath, if someone comes in with the right money for any young player here, they”ll be off.
“The club needs the money and we can”t afford not to take it. But, to be fair to the chairman, he has always been of the opinion that nobody will be allowed to leave on the cheap.
“We are in a good state with the bank, so not under pressure to sell, but if a proper bid came in we won”t hold him or anyone else, for that matter, back.”
As for the tie itself, it was quite literally a walk in the park for the Tangerines, Stair Park being the only ground in Scotland situated in a public park. That was down to United, for once, hitting the ground running and scoring three first-half goals to avoid having to chase the game, as too often has been the case this season.
It was no surprise when they took the lead after 13 minutes, albeit with a slight hint of good fortune. Barry Douglas drove in a low ball which deflected off Frank McKeown right into the path of Russell who squeezed the ball between keeper David Mitchell and the near post.
United”s dominance duly continued with Russell on target again after 27 minutes. Douglas knocked the ball down the left to Rudi Skacel, who cut the ball back to Russell who swivelled to side-foot home. Five minutes from the interval, it was game over as United scored a third with Douglas again the architect and Russell turning provider.
The full-back hoisted the ball into the heart of the home box, it fell to Russell who controlled it before slipping it to Daly to finish off from six yards. In a second-half onslaught, the only surprise was that the Tangerines only added two more.
Just after the hour mark, Keith Watson, back in the side for the injured Sean Dillon, saw his header blocked by the keeper, but Russell latched on to it and squared it for Daly to tap home. But Russell wasn”t to be denied his hat-trick. Having played in Michael Gardyne, he was on the end of the rebound after the substitute”s shot was blocked to steer in the fifth.
The fact home keeper David Mitchell was named the sponsor”s man-of-the-match despite conceding five goals tells you just how emphatic Houston”s side”s victory was.
Daly confirmed the determination in the Tannadice camp not to be the victims of a cup shock. He said, “We knew it was going to be tough when we came down and obviously the pitch wasn”t great and we knew they”d be well up for the game.
“Our pre-match talk centred on getting an early goal to knock the wind out of their sails and getting it helped.”
For Houston, making sure going through to the next round, with games to be played at the beginning of February, was paramount.
“The biggest thing for me today was to ensure we were in the next round and even more so when I hear that Arbroath scored a late goal to draw with Celtic,” he said.
That result, incidentally, means a new date will have to be found for United”s already rearranged trip to Celtic Park a week on Wednesday with Celtic”s involvement in that Gayfield replay.