Jim Goodwin won’t be using it as an excuse but admitted his injury-hit Dundee United squad will need to be patched up to go again when Motherwell head to Tannadice.
United narrowly lost to Aberdeen at the weekend but will look to get back to winning ways at home to the Steelmen. They travelled north without skipper Ross Docherty, Craig Sibbald, Ross Graham and Louis Moult and the boss doesn’t expect any of them to be back for Wednesday’s clash. Goodwin, who has been boosted by the return from injury of Ryan Strain, stated: “I can’t make too many excuses. It was the same squad as we had the previous week against Hibs, and we got an important win against them.
“Of course, we are limited in terms of the options that we’ve got off the bench. The four players that are missing for us are Ross Graham, Docherty, our captain, Sibbald, Louis Moult. Arguably, all four players would be pushing for a place in the starting 11.
“We are a little bit light in numbers at the moment, but every other manager will be in this situation at one point or another. I think we’ve come through it pretty well prior to Saturday. It’s not looking likely we’ll have any of the guys back, no. The squad that we had available at Aberdeen will likely be the squad that we’ll have for the next game and we’re not going to make any excuses.”
It was a sell-out away crowd at Pittodrie and Goodwin was disappointed he couldn’t reward them. They eventually fell to a late Peter Ambrose goal but their manager acknowledged his team had given everything.
Goodwin said: “I’m not going to be too hard on my players. “The supporters were brilliant all night and showed their appreciation to the players at the end of the game.”
Tune in toHotline Liveevery Sunday to Thursday and have your say on the biggest issues in Scottish football.