Jim Goodwin admits sitting third in the Premiership is more than even he could have dreamed of for Dundee United heading into the first international break.
The unbeaten Tannadice men made it eight points from four games with a deserved victory at Tynecastle against Hearts thanks to Ross Graham’s second half winner. The newly-promoted side have kept three clean sheets in their last three outings. And Goodwin admitted his side fed off the nerves around Tynecastle.
He said: “We sensed that bit of anxiety coming in from the supporters after about half an hour. I don’t think they had any real clear-cut chances. If I look at the dangerous attacks in the game, I actually think we probably had more than what Hearts did. So it’s a great win. It keeps the unbeaten run going for us. And going into the international break sitting third on the table is probably more than any of us would have dreamed for.
“Obviously a newly promoted team, you’re not sure how it’s going to go. We’ve had a very busy summer in the transfer market. We’ve signed 13 new players.
“You’re always a little bit wary in terms of how long it takes some of the international players to adapt to Scottish football and how they’re going to acclimatise to the different culture and what have you. But credit to the players, they’ve settled in so quickly. I think that’s credit to the people behind the scenes at Dundee United as well.
“They’ve in this short period of time seemed to have built up a great camaraderie within the group and a great team spirit. That can take you a long way and I think that’s the reason why we won the game today. It’ll be nice to look at the table this evening, sitting third, going into the international break.
Centre half Graham struck the winner with a low shot from the edge of the box and Goodwin admitted:“It wasn’t the cleanest of strikes on his weaker right foot. I actually thought from where I was standing it had went the other side of the post. I was delighted to see the net bulge and the celebrations in front of our travelling fans was a good moment.”
Meanwhile the Tannadice boss – sacked by Aberdeen two seasons ago – backed his under-fire counterpart Steven Naismith to turn form round at struggling Hearts. He said: “I know exactly what Steven’s going through because I’ve been there on numerous occasions as a manager myself.
“It’s quite a lonely place but I do believe he’s recruited really well in the summer for one reason or another. European football puts a big demand on your domestic form. He’s an experienced guy. He’s been in the game a long, long time. Sometimes you need an ugly win just to get the season going and I’m pretty confident with that group that he’s got there that he’ll be able to do that.”
