Dundee United hero may be sent back to Forfar

Published on Monday 12 January 2009 09:13

DUNDEE UNITED manager Craig Levein hailed teenage striker Johnny Russell after his first goal for the club – but warned he may still have to go back on loan to Forfar.

The 18-year-old netted a second-half penalty in the 4-0 Homecoming Scottish Cup win over East Stirlingshire at a windy Ochilview.

The forward had won the spot-kick himself on the artificial surface following a skilful run into the box.

He also set up Jon Daly's headed goal which had killed the tie off just before the break following earlier goals from Prince Buaben and Darren Dods.

But he will only stay at United for the rest of the season if Levein fails to bring in some experienced cover up front after Sunderland recalled loan striker Roy O'Donovan.

Levein said: "I thought he did well and the reason Johnny was involved, apart from the fact I rate him, is that he scored two goals here on loan at Forfar. The way he plays and his actions suit this surface. He has a good touch and keeps the ball close to him.

"We brought him back along with Kevin Smith from Raith because we want to make sure we are fine for strikers when the transfer window closes. But he may go back out on loan to Forfar."

Levein, whose side face Hamilton at New Douglas Park in the fifth round, added: "We started well and I felt our tempo dropped from an acceptable level for 10-15 minutes. Then we got it going and we were fine after that."

Shire boss Jim McInally rued a missed chance from Colin Cramb, who shot weakly over after being put clean through in the fifth minute. The experienced striker thought he heard a whistle and shot half-heartedly but the offside flag had stayed down.

"When you get chances like that against top teams you have to score them, and Dundee United are probably the top team at the minute," McInally said.

"You can see the confidence in them and they have top players. Once they went 1-0 up, I thought we had a wee spell where we were back in it without looking like scoring. But I was glad to get to half-time and I challenged the players to have a bit of guts about them and not get turned over."

The former United hero handed a debut to 17-year-old goalkeeper Jamie Newman after Falkirk recalled Jamie Barclay from loan.

And he was pleased that the youngster helped keep the score down, especially when he blocked from close range from Daly in stoppage-time.

"I was delighted for the young keeper because it could have been a real bad day for him," McInally said.