Houston aims to atone for Rangers rout

Published on Tuesday 9 March 2010 22:19

PETER Houston says his Dundee United side are desperate to make amends for their 7-1 thrashing by Rangers when the sides meet for the first time since on Sunday.

United suffered their heaviest league defeat for more than half a century when they last travelled to Ibrox in December.

So bad was the result in what was Houston's second match in temporary charge, he immediately withdrew from the race to succeed Craig Levein as manager.

But Levein's former lieutenant has overseen a renaissance since and United will travel to Ibrox for Sunday's Active Nation Scottish Cup quarter-final having risen to third in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

"I'm sure the boys are keen to make amends with what happened at the end of December," Houston said. "We didn't do ourselves justice last time we were at Ibrox. "Players are always wanting to improve on their last performance and our players are wanting to improve on their last Ibrox performance."

Houston believes he also has a point to prove after the thrashing called into question his credentials to succeed Levein.

"I'll probably use it to my benefit in many ways," he said of December's result. "We'd just lost Craig to the Scotland job and the players were wondering what was going to happen.

"If we go in there and play at 100 per cent, we still have to hope Rangers aren't 100 per cent at their best. But it's a one-off game."