John Rankin believes a feelgood factor is sweeping through Scottish football and hopes Dundee United can do their bit by continuing to challenge at the top end of the Premiership.
The Tangerines welcome Partick Thistle to Tannadice following an international break that has seen Gordon’s Strachan’s revitalised Scotland beat Georgia and then secure a decent draw in Poland in their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.
Rankin feels the exploits of the national team are one reason that the game is feeling good about itself again, while the other is an unpredictable domestic league that has Hamilton Accies leading the way with United and others hot on their heels.
“There is a wider positive feeling about the game and you have to give credit to the national side for a lot of that,” said the United midfielder.
“You see what Gordon Strachan has done for Scotland and now we are talking about maybe making it to a major finals again.
“I know the last time we did that as country was 1998 because Jacko (United first-team coach Darren Jackson) played at that World Cup and he keeps mentioning it to us every single day.
“So there is a good feeling about the Scottish game just now. Long may that continue! The national team is doing well and we also have a league that is competitive.
“That’s what we have been crying out for for years, for teams to have a go at the top and bottom of the table.
“It is a good league, one that has the supporters speaking about it. It is hard to predict what will happen in matches.
“We looked at our last game at Kilmarnock and thought: ‘If we go and win here…’
“We lost and then we expected Hamilton to get beat from Celtic but they won and that shows you can’t under-estimate anyone.
“Every team is in the Premiership on merit and they all have players capable of winning matches.
“In years gone by there have been sides who will try to stop you playing but the difference this time is that every team has potential winners who can turn a game.
“I don’t look at the quality in the league from year to year in detail but I would say that there are more attack-minded players around now.
“That makes the football more pleasing on the eye, I guess.”
Of course, no United fan who travelled down to Rugby Park before the international break will have been thinking about pretty football, with the Tangerines letting themselves down with a dismal display as they crashed to a 2-0 defeat.
It was a bad night in an otherwise good season thus far, as Rankin accepted, and they are now deseprate to bounce back by beating the Jags.
“You get ups and downs throughout the season and that was a real down,” he said.
“The biggest disappointment was having to wait two weeks to put it right. After a defeat like that you want to get out on to the pitch as quickly as possible.
“We lost and now we want to get back to winning ways. So the fortnight’s wait has been a nightmare.
“All the boys are back ready to go again, though. It has been a difficult spell because of that performance at Kilmarnock, where we didn’t play anywhere near our potential.
“It has been frustrating but we will come out fighting when the whistle goes.”
The unpredictability of the top flight means no United fan should expect the clash with Thistle to be anything other than a tough test.
Rankin said: “Partick have a several good players and we had some real battles with them last season and it will be the same again this time.
“I know their manager Alan Archibald as I did my A coaching licence with him and was impressed by him down at Largs.
“We played together in a game against Scotland’s under-21s and, at his age (the former Tannadice defender is a sprightly 36), to be going up against Scotland’s best young players says a lot for him.
“Stuart (United midfielder Armstrong) scored the winner for the under-21s and they won 1-0.
“You could tell even then that Archie was a real leader and you can see why his players will really look up to him as a manager.
“He has done well to make the transition for player to manager and you can see why his team will look up to him.”
United will give striker Mario Bilate, who was sent home ill from training on Thursday, a chance to prove he can play this afternoon.
Manager Jackie McNamara said: “We’ll have to make a decision on Mario and see if he’s fit enough to be in the squad.”
Thistle, meanwhile, signed Belgian defender Frederic Frans on a contract until January.
iroache@thecourier.co.uk