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Dundee United ready for life after Nadir Ciftci as they head to Holland

Jackie McNamara.
Jackie McNamara.

Life without Nadir Ciftci will begin for Dundee United when they face Vitesse Arnhem in the Netherlands tonight.

When the first match of their three-game Dutch tour kicks off in Driel there will no Ciftci after he signed a four-year deal with Celtic yesterday.

While it will be painful to lose their star striker – especially to the Hoops – the £1.5 million fee offers considerable consolation to the Tangerines.

Now they have to move on and manager Jackie McNamara is determined to do that just that.

He will experiment on this trip, which will also see them play AZ Alkmaar on Tuesday in Dirkshorn then finish off with a fixture against FC Utrecht in Zoudenbalch on Thursday.

The United boss will be challenging players who maybe haven’t quite set the heather on fire at the club yet to step up and show him they are worthy of a first-team start.

McNamara said: “The main thing for us now is that we are ready as a squad for the start of the season.

“We have a lot of work to do between now and the second of August in order to prepare for that.

“Over the next couple of weeks we will see how the players react and we will know if they are ready to step up.

“One or two need to prove a few things to us first.

“I want the team to be tested in Holland.

“Results are not what matters in pre-season and we have tough opposition who will challenge us.

“So we have a lot of important matches in which to show that we are ready to face Aberdeen.”

One of the biggest unresolved questions is who will play in goal when the competitive Premiership action kicks off against the Dons at Tannadice on August 2.

They have youthful trio Marc McCallum (22), Michal Szromnik (22) and Luis Zwick (21), who played for the development team against Arbroath last Tuesday, all vying to replace Rado Cierzniak.

“I have no concerns about the age of the goalies,” stressed McNamara.

“You look at Aberdeen when they played in Europe last week and they had an on-loan 21-year-old in goal for them (Danny Ward).

“We have three fantastic young keepers fighting for the one position.

“It is exciting for them and they have to step up now.

“This is when you find out about people, when they cross the white line to play matches.

“I have my own ideas about the different attributes that they all have but the big determining factor will be how they handle the pressure and expectation over the next few weeks.

“How do you learn? You learn by playing regardless of your age.

“They will experience greater demands on them and what we need to know is if they can handle it.”