Dundee United boss Jackie McNamara isn’t putting star striker Nadir Ciftci under pressure to score goals.
And he wants the man himself to do the same.
Ciftci scored 24 goals in his debut season at Tannadice following his move from NAC Breda, and became a fans’ favourite on the back of it.
The 22-year-old has shown signs of frustration in the first few months of this campaign, but McNamara believes the Turk can be too hard on himself.
Ciftci returned to goal-scoring form with an impressive double in Friday night’s win against Ross County to take his tally to seven for the season so far, and McNamara noted: “Maybe he feels he has to do more because of last year. I don’t know.
“But possibly he is putting too much pressure on himself.
“When he’s not thinking about it he’s better.
“Maybe he’s thinking too hard or trying too hard at times and overdoing it because of the demands on him from last year but he just needs to focus on his game.”
McNamara sat Ciftci down before the trip to the Highlands to give him some advice.
He explained: “I’ve spoken to Nadir.
“Sometimes your look at him and he’s frustrated but I don’t understand why.
“I wish I was as frustrated with his ability when I played!
“Sometimes, when he thinks about it he scores a fantastic goal which is just instinct.
“But when he has time to think about things, he can let himself down at times.
“He can dwell on things and think too much, rather than doing the simple thing.”