McNamara wary of fired-up rivals

Friday 1 March 2013

Dundee United manager Jackie McNamara has told his players they will have to be at their best to overcome rivals Dundee in Sunday's William Hill Scottish Cup quarter-final tie at Dens Park.

The Tangerines are favourites to make it through to the last four in this weekend's meeting with the SPL's bottom club as they attempt to pull off a repeat of their 2010 efforts when they lifted the trophy at Hampden by beating Ross County.

But they must first get past a Dundee side who have new boss John Brown at the helm. McNamara said: "This will be a very tough game, no doubt about it. "We all know derbies are special games and we'll have to be good on the day to win. "We can't afford not to be as Dundee will be well motivated for the game and will want to get into the next round as much as we do. "They got a good draw the other night against St Johnstone with 10 men so we're under no illusions about just how tough a match we're facing." McNamara's first game in charge saw them sweep past Rangers 3-0 in some style to make the last eight. But the former Celtic and Scotland defender admits he would be happy to settle for any kind of victory this time round so long as they secure their place in the semi-finals of the competition. He said: "We played very well that day against Rangers. Everything just seemed to click. "But this is a different game all together. "It always is when you are up against your local rivals as you know it means to much to both sets of supporters. "The bottom line as in any cup competition is to get through to the next round. "That's what we're preparing to try and do because any cup run is special to any club. "You obviously want to play well in every game but when it comes to a one-off situation the main thing is just to get into the next round. "I know I have very good players here who can compete with anyone on their day. "This is a big occasion coming up on Sunday and it's one they should be really looking forward to. "I'm excited about it and I'm sure the lads are too. "We want to get the kind of result which the fans will be happy with along with ourselves." Meanwhile, Dundee United striker Johnny Russell should make the William Hill Scottish Cup derby at Dens Park after coming off with a leg knock at Inverness in midweek. Defender Gavin Gunning is out after his recent tidy-up knee operation but United have no other fresh injury worries. Recent signing Marcus Tornstrand is getting fitter but Sunday looks like coming too early for him. Provisional squad: Cierzniak, Watson, Dillon, Douglas, McLean, Ryan, Millar, Flood, Rankin, Armstrong, Mackay-Steven, Russell, Daly, Gardyne, Thomson, Dow, Souttar, Petrie, Banks.

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McNamara wary of fired-up rivals

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