Dundee United have their sights set on finishing second in the Scottish Premiership this season, according to defender Andrew Robertson.
The Tangerines were in scintillating form at Motherwell, where they achieved an impressive 4-0 win against the team who claimed the runners-up spot last term.
Robertson, who scored the last of the goals in stoppage time, said: “The league is open just now. Hearts have gone up to Pittodrie and beaten Aberdeen, which is a great result for them.
“If we keep on doing what we are doing then I don’t see why we can’t finish second. It was a great performance by all of us. We were excellent from start to finish.”
Choosing which is the best out of three 4-0 wins isn’t the worst conundrum to have for a footballer.
Was it the one against a St Johnstone side who themselves had won by the same scoreline the week before?
Or perhaps the thrashing of St Mirren with a line-up that had a number of first-team regulars left out?
Neither of those finish top of the trio as far as Robertson is concerned, though. That particular award goes to Saturday’s near faultless performance at Fir Park.
“I would say so,” he said. “We beat St Mirren and St Johnstone 4-0 at home. But I would say this has been the best performance.
“From start to finish, we were on it and we never let them settle down. You could see they never had time and that balls were going out of the park.
“We kept possession well and pressed high up the park, managing to keep it up for the 90 minutes. The defence stayed solid, we got time on the ball and the front four were unbelievable.”
Motherwell manager Stuart McCall wouldn’t have witnessed the United wins over the Perth and Paisley Saints, but I’m sure he wouldn’t argue with Robertson’s best-of-the-season assessment.
McCall described it as the finest display at Fir Park by any side during his tenure and that includes Celtic, Rangers and European clubs.
“That’s a lot of praise because so many teams come here and struggle,” Robertson responded.
“We were up for a tough test and I don’t think many teams will come here and win 4-0. But I thought we were excellent from start to finish and were definitely worth the scoreline.”
The first United goal came on 16 minutes when goalkeeper Gunnar Nielsen only punched the ball away as far as Ryan Gauld on the 18-yard line, and he volleyed it straight back past him.
The lead was doubled in 18 minutes and was a consequence of not giving a Motherwell player time on the ball, as Robertson alluded to.
Gary Mackay-Steven stayed on top of Zaine Francis-Angol, who retreated into the corner of the pitch, before Gauld joined Mackay-Steven to rob the ball away from the flustered defender.
From there, Mackay-Steven ran into the box, cut it back and a scramble ended up with Paul Paton finishing from close range.
Robertson thought he had scored goal number three on 34 minutes, when Gauld put him through. But a late flag cut short his celebration.
Gauld himself got the third shortly after the hour-mark with a low left-foot drive after being picked out by Nadir Ciftci.
The young forward was substituted shortly after, suffering the delayed effects of a head knock, but United lost none of their forward momentum.
David Goodwillie saw a shot tipped round the post with two minutes to go but United weren’t to be denied their fourth and Robertson fired a rocket past Nielsen from the left-hand corner of the box.
For further coverage from Fir Park, see Monday’s Courier or try our digital edition.