Houston prepares his dynamos for Moscow

Published on 06/08/2012 02:49

DUNDEE United manager Peter Houston has pledged to go on the offensive in Russia this week as his buoyant team bid to extend their stay in the Europa League.

Houston’s players followed up their much-praised performance in last Thursday’s 2-2 draw at home to Dinamo Moscow with a 3-0 win over a hapless Hibs side at Tannadice yesterday which took United to the top of the Scottish Premier League on day one of the new campaign.

They will go to Moscow as firm underdogs for the second leg of their Europa League qualifier on Thursday, but Houston is confident they can turn the tie in their favour.

“It was the perfect result for us before we go to Moscow,” he said. “The biggest thing for me today was getting the three points and starting the league campaign in the right manner, whether it was 1-0, 3-0 or 5-0.

“Now we can rest on Monday and then look forward to Moscow. As it stands just now, we are out of the tournament. So we have to go there with the same positive attitude we had last Thursday night and that we showed again today.

“I’d rather lose 4-0 over there having a go, than try to hold out and steal a goal late on. We are at our best when we are attacking and that’s the only way we can play. The players proved their fitness levels today. It wouldn’t have been a surprise if they had started a bit lethargically after Thursday night. But we started the game on fire. We scored an early goal and then could have had a penalty. We created a number of chances, and their goalkeeper had a few decent saves, notably one from Jon Daly.

“The game could have been won long before it was. But they never panicked, they just continued to keep the ball well. You are always worried you might get hit on the counter attack at 1-0 but that never happened.

“I can’t praise the players enough. They went about their business, started at a high tempo and kept going. I was looking at my backroom staff with 15 minutes to go, asking if they thought any of the players were wilting because we had all those fresh legs on the bench.

“But I just made substitutions for the sake of it in the end to give some players game time. The guys who started the game looked as if they were on Duracell batteries. It’s great credit to how they went about their business in pre-season training.”

Houston has one injury concern ahead – defender Sean Dillon was replaced at half-time yesterday after suffering a groin strain and will be assessed over the next two days.