Dundee 0
Dundee United 2
League (Premier Division)

Manager's Programme Notes

Today's game is one for which no motivation is required - just like last Saturday's visit to Ibrox in fact and I'm looking for the players to put in another good performance.

We'll be going into today's tussle with our neighbours with a little more confidence than we've had of late thanks to our showing against Rangers when we played some really good football.

Derby clashes like today's game are important for everybody connected with the club and the players all know that we've got everything to play for.

The result in the last game against United will also give us a bit of confidence for today's taks but in all honesty at the end of the day no such boosts should be needed.

After all every player wants to win a local derby and our players will take the field today with the intention of giving it everything they've got.

We showed again at Ibrox that when we settle down to play football we can perform as well as any team although we definitely need more penetration up front.

We need to get more shots in on goal - everyone is aware of that but this aspect of the game is the hardest to get right. But our overall performance was certainly satisfactory and it's had the effect of perking up the place again. The signs are there that we've got that vital spring in the step again and it certainly showed against Rangers when the sharpness and alertness was spread throughout the team.

It's games like that against Rangers and today's match with United which seems to bring the best out of us. Our fans apart, people don't expect us to get anything from these matches and this takes a lot of pressure off us.

Our main problems seem to occur in the other games against so-called lesser teams when we're expected to win and thus the pressure is on us.

But this is just another hurdle in our development as a team and once we've been over them we'll learn how to handle them.

So long as we keep playing good football we'll learn to overcome the difficulties that can face us in games and as I've said before a very important aspect of the game is to get the players into the habit of winning.

I gather that United have a far better record against us here at Dens than at Tannadice and that's something else we'll have to try and put right this afternoon.

But this game is not all about records and there's no reason why we shouldn't be out there fighting and expecting to get something from the match.