Dundee United

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Jim Goodwin is determined to rectify his poor cup record with Dundee United and lead the club to Hampden by beating Falkirk on Friday night - live on BBC Scotland.

Since taking the reins at Tannadice in March 2023, the Irishman has failed to lead United beyond the quarter-finals of either domestic knockout competition.

A Scottish Cup semi-final place is at stake when Goodwin takes his side to the Falkirk Stadium.

"We don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves but it is one thing I haven't yet been able to achieve here in my three years at the club," he said.

"We have enjoyed some good success in terms of winning the Championship, a great league campaign last season to finish fourth, enjoyed European football at the beginning of this season – but we haven't gone far enough in the cup competitions and we haven't been able to bring the supporters back to Hampden for a big game.

"So that is the incentive, the motivation for me certainly on an individual level. Ultimately as a team the players are desperate to go and play at the national stadium because a number of our squad have never done that before."

Goodwin admits the last-eight tie is a "huge game for both teams". United are slight underdogs against a sixth-place Bairns side who sit nine points and one spot above them in the Premiership table.

"I think league form at this stage goes out of the window, the cup is a very separate entity," said Goodwin.

"Both teams know what is required and the only result that matters is a win because that is all that is going to take you to Hampden.

"In the previous three fixtures when we have played against each other there hasn't been a great deal between the two teams. We have won one, Falkirk have won one and the other was a draw.

"I suppose the pleasing aspect is we are unbeaten at their place this season and in the most recent fixture we won 3-2, so we should take confidence from that result and hopefully that will stand us in good stead tomorrow night."

Dundee United's Vicko Sevelj fears Scottish football "is getting too soft" and refereeing decisions "too inconsistent". (Record), external

Will Ferry admits he has "a bad history" in cup tournaments and does not want to be "a curse" as he prepares to help Dundee United get past hosts Falkirk in the Scottish Cup on Friday. (Courier - subscription required), external

Thursday's Scottish gossip

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

In what has been a fascinating Scottish Premiership season, Johnny Russell's return to Dundee United adds another layer of intrigue.

At 35 the former Scotland international is no spring chicken, but if United are getting anything close to the player he was when he began his senior journey at Tannadice then it will be a shrewd piece of business.

Given he has spent the last the past eight years in the MLS, Russell is a player who may well have dropped off the radar of some Scottish football fans.

United will be hoping his exploits between now and the end of the season will put him firmly back in their thoughts.

While scoring goals will be his main objective, his presence around the squad will be just as important.

Russell gets what Dundee United are all about, he is also a seasoned pro who will bring welcome added leadership to the dressing room.

While their league season may be petering out, United still have plenty to play for in the Scottish Cup and a quarter-final trip to Falkirk awaits on Friday night.

It would be the ultimate homecoming if Russell can help them navigate that and take another step towards getting their hands on a trophy they last won in 2010.

We asked for your views after Dundee United secured a first win in four game by beating St Mirren 2-1 at Tannadice.

Here's what some of you had to say:

Ross: A hard-fought victory with some decent efforts around the (grass free) pitch. Let's not kid ourselves, the best team won but the Buddies would struggle to buy a win on eBay. With safety in the league hopefully assured, the season now rests on Friday night - go and give Falkirk a good go with high-pressing, high-tempo football. Amar Fatah will be a miss as he worries defenders.

Stef: Not gonna be many pretty games between now and the end of the season on that pitch but the players battled away brilliantly for the three points. Hopefully now keep us away from the danger of the relegation play-off spot and gives the players confidence ahead of a huge Scottish Cup tie on Friday.

Ian: Thankful for three points but my eyes have just stopped bleeding. Not good. Jim Goodwin is sucking the life out the club. Too much panic, too defensive, players are afraid when in possession.

Dave: Getting better. Ross Graham showed up well in defence, Emmanuel Agyei put in a shift doing the dirty work in midfield and Johnny Russell's presence brought a much-needed bounce to the support. At long last Fatah showed us all how a penalty should really be taken.

Watch all the highlights as Dundee United piled more pressure on struggling St Mirren with a 2-1 win at Tannadice. Available to UK users only.

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Dundee United boss Jim Goodwin: "We're delighted to win the game, really pleased with the physicality the players showed.

"We set the team up in a way were we had to compete and win our individual duels.

"The back three were really good at times, winning first contacts. The midfield three in particular were outstanding. I felt before the game whoever won the midfield battle would come out on top in the game.

"I thought we started the game really brightly, and get the goal in that period. Really pleased to go in at half-time leading.

"To concede the equaliser was disappointing but the players showed great character. We were the better team on the night in every area. We had far more of the ball, far more dangerous attacks and deserved to get all three points in the end.

"We didn't want to go into the Falkirk cup game off the back of two defeats. Tonight's game is done, the whole focus now is the game on Friday."

Marcus Fraser's own goal and Amar Fatah's emphatic penalty gave Dundee United a vital three points from a hard-fought Scottish Premiership encounter with St Mirren.

Read the match report here.

Let us know your thoughts here.

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Robbie Neilson has backed Dundee United's returning "cult hero" Johnny Russell to give Jim Goodwin's side a much-needed "spark" in the remainder of the season.

Former Scotland forward Russell, 35, has returned to first club United on a deal until the summer after eight years in America's MLS with Sporting City Kansas and latterly Real Salt Lake.

Ex-United boss Neilson was previously a team-mate at Tannadice of Russell, who netted 46 times in 120 games before joining Derby County in 2013.

Speaking on Tuesday morning before Russell's United return was confirmed, Neilson told the BBC's Scottish football podcast: "I think it'll give them a real lift.

"I know Johnny really well. I used to travel through with him years ago, played with him, and when I was in America I spoke to him about potentially coming to the Tampa Bay Rowdies but he ended up going to Real Salt Lake.

"He's got a young family and always planned to come back to Scotland.

"So yeah, I think he will give him a lift because at the moment Dundee United need some sort of spark. It looks a little bit flat.

"It will get the fans onside because he's a bit of a cult hero up there. I haven't seen him playing this season but he's still got quality, got good technique and is still really fit.

"So I think it will be good for both parties."

Paul McNicoll
Fan writer

Well, for the second time this season a Dundee United side have headed through to Fir Park and almost accepted defeat before they were off the bus.

The Steelmen, in fairness, have been a revelation this season, but as a United fan I find it hard to stomach just how meekly we perform in this fixture.

It's so defensive and frustrating and you'll never convince me the United players enjoy setting up to simply 'follow their man' all afternoon. Grim times.

What this has left us with, however, is arguably United's most important week of the season so far. Which is a polite way of saying: buckle up, Arabs.

For my money, we still have a little work to do to ensure we're in the top flight next season. Remaining in the Premiership should be the barest of minimum requirements for any United side. We are a proud club. We have history. We have opinions. Lots of opinions.

On paper, tonight's visit of St Mirren to Tannadice is a very winnable game. St Mirren have registered just one away win all season in the league, which in true footballing fashion means they are now guaranteed to look like 1970 Brazil for 20-minute spells.

It's not quite a must-win, but it is very much a must-not-lose. The kind of game where you'd love an early goal to settle the nerves, but would also spend the remaining 83 minutes plus stoppage time watching through your fingers.

Then, once that's out the way, 1,900 Arabs will be making the pilgrimage to Falkirk on Friday night to face the impressive Bairns.

It's far from mission impossible. It's more mission 'Please just turn up and play like you mean it'. Get through that and it's a trip to Hampden, and suddenly the entire mood shifts.

Cup football has that magic. Form goes out the window. Logic follows it. And occasionally, United remember they're allowed to attack.

So here's the hope: a little less follow your man, a little more follow your instincts. A little less fear, a little more fun.

And ideally, at least one week where supporting United doesn't feel like a cardio workout for the soul.

Paul McNicoll can be found at the Dode Fox Podcast, external

• Since he left St Mirren in 2022, United manager Jim Goodwin has won five of his 10 Premiership games against the Buddies (losing three), his joint-most wins over any opponent in the competition in this time along with St Johnstone.

• St Mirren are winless in 13 away midweek games in the Premiership (losing 10 of them) since a 3-1 victory over Aberdeen in February 2023.

• United are unbeaten in three home games but have only won one of them and could draw three in a row in the Premiership for the first time since April 2022.

• After their 3-1 win in October, United could defeat St Mirren twice at home in a single Premiership season for the first time since 2013-14.

• St Mirren have won two of their past three games against United after losing three in a row against them without scoring beforehand.

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A proposed return to Dundee United for 35-year-old striker Johnny Russell could provide a big lift for a struggling side, says his former Tannadice team-mate Lee Wilkie. (The Courier - subscription required), external

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Craig Sibbald (hamstring), Isaac Pappoe (knee) and Bert Esselink remain sidelined for Dundee United.

St Mirren's Mikael Mandron is likely to miss out after sustaining a shoulder injury against Livingston. Declan John (illness) and Conor McMenamin (groin) missed the trip to West Lothian.

Jonah Ayunga (calf) returns to training this week, while Malik Dijksteel (groin) is out long term.

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Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin says he expects a "physical" enounter against St Mirren and his team will "keep fighting" for a top-six spot.

Saturday's defeat by Motherwell coupled with Falkirk's convincing win over Kilmarnock left United 12 points off sixth spot with 15 points left to play for.

The first of those is St Mirren at Tannadice as Goodwin aims to register a first win in four Premiership matches and turn their form around before Friday's Scottish Cup quarter-final against Falkirk.

"If there's one thing that I can never point the finger at this group of players for, it's a lack of effort, commitment or professionalism," he said.

"We know we haven't got enough points on the board at this stage of the season.

"We also know that we've made mistakes at times in certain games that have been really costly and I include myself in that as well - it's not always just about the players.

"We're very much a collective here and we win and lose together. But obviously we find ourselves in a position at the table that we're not overly satisfied with.

"We're not stupid enough to think that it's going to be easy or straightforward and Falkirk only need to pick up another win out of the next four games and they've secured it [top six]. But while it's mathematically still possible, we'll keep fighting."

Goodwin added he is confident his chosen team will match St Mirren "in terms of the physical aspect".

"It's a completely different style of play to what we faced on Saturday against Motherwell - it'll be a lot more direct, and we'll have to defend the box well," the United boss added.

"We're going to have to stand up and be counted in those situations but at the same time, we've caused St Mirren a few problems going the other way this season and we've got to try and do that again."

Watch Sportscene pundit Richard Foster discuss the disfunction in the Dundee United squad.

Dundee United are keen to seal a return to Tannadice for Scotland-capped forward Johnny Russell, who was released by Real Salt Lake in November, and the 35-year-old attended Sunday's defeat by Motherwell amid signing talks. (The Courier), external

Read Monday's Scottish Gossip in full.

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Watch all the action as Tawanda Maswanhise scores twice in Motherwell's Scottish Premiership win over Dundee United.

We asked for your views on Dundee United's 2-0 defeat against Motherwell.

Here's what some of you said:

Eddie: Absolutely not good enough. Jim Goodwin deliberately fielded a weakened team because he had no belief we could win. How are the players meant to respond to that? I'm done with his excuses, he's not good enough to be a Dundee United manager and his defeatist mentality belongs elsewhere.

Kevin: Absolute shambles of a performance. Team selection is baffling, even accounting for rotation. No pressure, no energy and zero interest. We are going to struggle to stay away from eleventh and really don't fancy our chances if we end up in the play-offs.

Ricky: One word - pathetic. It was worse than the Aberdeen game, we are right in trouble. The next game we will get a hiding, it's time for Goodwin to go.

Sean: I wasn't at the game, but it sounds like another inept performance lacking in ambition. Goodwin needs to go at the end of the season. There has been no improvement in the team's performances which is down to coaching and tactics. He can't even make us difficult to beat.

Derek: Expected defeat, but an unnecessary penalty and a deflected goal wasn't too bad. It could have been worse. Roll on Tuesday.

Dave: This was an utterly shameful performance by a bunch of players who were either totally disinterested in trying to make any effort or were so incompetent in their display that they need to question themselves about their desire and pride in their work.

This was simply pathetic and a kick in the teeth for all the United fans who have backed them and travelled in numbers all season. I think Goodwin may be looking for another job shortly!

Motherwell moved a point behind third-placed Celtic in the Scottish Premiership with a comfortable win at home to Dundee United.

Read the full match report here

Have your say on the game via this link

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Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin: "We always knew it was going to be difficult. They've only suffered one defeat in the league since the middle of October so we always knew we were going to be up against it.

"I thought the shape in the first half was really good, we denied Motherwell any real clear cut goalscoring opportunities. The game is turned on the penalty decision as far as I'm concerned.

"Motherwell didn't have a shot on target prior to the penalty kick being awarded. I have no idea why VAR are getting involved in that incident. The referee didn't deem it violent conduct otherwise he would have sent Vicko Sevelj off the park.

"That type of pushing a player away happens 100 times in a game, every weekend and today, for some reason, we find ourselves with a penalty kick awarded against us. Every week we're talking about VAR and the refereeing in the country and it doesn't look like it's going to get better an y time soon.

"We go in 1-0 at half-time extremely disappointed because we didn't feel we deserved to be behind. The second goal was a real killer for us, terrible timing and that made life even more difficult.

"The players kept going, we tried to be aggressive, we tried to press them high up the pitch and forced them into going quite long. We were taking quite a risk going man for man at the back but I thought, apart from the second goal, we dealt with those situations pretty well.

"We could argue we should do better on the ball, I thought we turned over possession far too cheaply at times.

"I think the main talking point is going to be that penalty kick because we feel we should have been going in 0-0 at half time with it all to play for. Psychologically, that has a real negative impact on the players.

"Mathematically we can still do it [make the top six] but we know how difficult that's going to be.

"I've had to manage the group as best I could over recent weeks. Today was our seventh game in four weeks we've got another two games in five days so we'll just try and juggle things around a little bit for Tuesday because we know the significance of what Friday night [in the cup] means."

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Motherwell have Lukas Fadinger back from suspension. Johnny Koutroumbis (calf) and Callum Hendry (groin) face further time on the sidelines and long-term absentee Zach Robinson (Achilles) remains out.

Dundee United boss Jim Goodwin has some bumps and bruises to contend with after Tuesday's draw with Aberdeen, while Craig Sibbald (hamstring) and Isaac Pappoe (knee) remain out.

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Jim Goodwin has challenged his Dundee United "underdogs" to upset a Motherwell side who are the "best footballing team" in Scotland.

Seventh-place United face a formidable test at Fir Park against Jens Berthel Askou's men, who are fourth in the table and in the title mix while boasting the best defensive record in the league.

Manager Goodwin said: "We will probably be underdogs in a lot of people's eyes given the current form of Motherwell, but we are on a half-decent run ourselves in terms of four games unbeaten and coming into this game off the back of a really good clean sheet against a strong attacking force of Aberdeen.

"We are going to face one of the best teams in the country. They have had lots and lots of plaudits over the course of the season and deservedly so.

"I think you could argue that they are probably the best footballing team consistently since the beginning of the season.

"A quite remarkable season Motherwell have had, their coach deserves a huge amount of credit for what he has been able to achieve in such a short period of time."

United go into the game nine points behind sixth-place Falkirk, with the slimmest of hopes of catching the Bairns.

Their cause hasn't been helped by the fact they have drawn 12 of their 27 league games and kept just four clean sheets, the latest coming in the midweek goalless draw with Aberdeen.

Goodwin said: "I thought the back three in particular against Aberdeen were excellent, defended the box so well.

"And tomorrow afternoon it is going to be no different against a very good attacking team, against a player in [Tawanda] Maswanhise who is having the season of his career so far, high in confidence, very positive and direct, always looking to try and get shots off, so concentration levels are going to be key.

"Our success last season was built around that solid foundation of being really difficult to beat and hard to score against and unfortunately this year we just haven't got the balance right between being solid defensively and being a good attacking team.

"But we know the areas we have to improve, we have been working tirelessly on it in training and hopefully the lads can take a lot of confidence from the performance on Tuesday and take that into the games coming up this week."

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin has been speaking to the media before his side's Premiership trip to play Motherwell on Saturday.

Here are the main points:

• Goodwin admits "we will probably be underdogs in a lot of people's eyes" against a Motherwell side who have had a "remarkable" season, but United "believe we are capable of beating any opposition on any given day".

• Goodwin says his defenders can take confidence from the midweek 0-0 draw with Aberdeen, which was just their fourth clean sheet in the league this season.

• He added that "concentration levels are going to be key" against a very good attacking team and a striker, Tawanda Maswanhise, who is "having the season of his career".

• United are seventh in the table, nine points behind Falkirk in sixth, but Goodwin insists "we certainly won't give up the fight" of getting into the top half, adding "we have just got to keep believing".

• Amid what has been an ultra-competitive top division this term, Goodwin believes "'it has been a tough tough league for everybody" and he doesn't believe "there is a team at the top of the table that looks forward to playing any of the fixtures at this moment in time".

• Immersed in a hectic schedule Goodwin admits "there is a bit of fatigue and a few bumps and bruises within the squad".

• And with three games in a week coming up the United boss stresses "we have a few decisions to make tomorrow with regards to the starting 11".

• Goodwin was again asked about the condition of the much-maligned Tannadice pitch and is disappointed it "has become this talking point".

• He adds no blame is being pointed at anyone and stresses it is not down to a lack of investment in the pitch but due to things outwith United's control - namely the horrendous weather combined with a busy schedule of fixtures.