Nadir Ciftci wants to bury the memory of Dundee United's sorry collapse at Rugby Park as they seek to make amends at Tannadice today.

United lost 2-0 defeat in Ayrshire last month in what was their worst performance of the season and Jackie McNamara's men now sit third in the table after a 1-0 defeat away to Motherwell in their last outing before the international break.

Ciftci suffered as much as anyone in October, being substituted as United failed to turn up in the televised Friday night fixture. Now the talented Turkish striker is itching to make up for it.

"That game at Kilmarnock was a bad night. We know what happened but we are playing at home now. I think we played well against Motherwell, even if the result wasn't the best. But if we play like we did that night and take our chances, then I am sure we will be all right against Kilmarnock.

"I don't think it's going to be a problem. That Motherwell game showed we can play good football but there's even more to come from us. Hopefully we will show it against Kilmarnock this weekend."

United could go back to the summit of the Premiership with a win over Kilmarnock provided results elsewhere go their way this afternoon. They sit just a point behind league leaders Celtic,and the former Portsmouth and NAC Breda forward Ciftci is convinced they can stay challenging near the top of the table. He said: "I think we can get back top of the league. Of course we can. We have shown we can play well and get the good results to get up there."

Ciftci is raring to go again after the international break when he took the opportunity to visit his family in Turkey. "It was good to have a little break from football," he said. "But now it's back to reality. I feel really fresh and ready to go. I had a little hamstring trouble before the break but I feel fit again now."

McNamara is also keen for a return to action."We're really looking forward to the game," said the manager. It's been a bit stop-start. The Motherwell game recently now seems like a long time ago.

"The tempo and intensity of training has been good all week. There is strong competition for places and that's what we want. So it should be a good game and we're ready for it."

"We're at home and we've got to make sure we win the game. I think it's important you get results at your home ground."

Ciftci will miss next weekend's Scottish Cup tie with Motherwell through suspension. Today, United will be without John Rankin and Mario Bilate through injury.

Craig Samson, the Kilmarnock goalkeeper, hopes some unusual shooting practice has set his team up for their trip to Tannadice.

Allan Johnston, the manager, took advantage of the international break to take his players away for a day of extra-curricular activities.

Samson explained: "We had a good week's training and the manager did a bit of a bonding session with the boys last weekend. We had a day playing golf and then clay pigeon shooting. Rory McKenzie and Alexei Eremenko were the best at that so it was good that the forward players were the best marksmen.

"It was good for everyone to get together but this week we have focused on Dundee United and trained very well."

Kilmarnock travel on the back of three consecutive defeats, including home losses to Dundee and Ross County in which they conceded three goals in each match. However, Samson is confident they can get those setbacks out of their system.

"We have spoken about the County game, seen where we went wrong and have moved on," he said. "We need to put in a good performance and get us back in the top six. This is one of the hardest matches but we have to take confidence from how we played against them at Rugby Park."