Dundee United looking to bounce back against Hibs

Dundee Utd manager Jackie McNamara is looking to get his side back on track against Hibs. Picture: SNS

The Arabs welcome Terry Butcher’s side to Tannadice still smarting from three successive defeats.

Having won a raft of plaudits for a six-match winning streak that saw them blast 22 goals, the Terrors then followed that up by losing nine goals in three games as St Mirren, St Johnstone and Aberdeen all triumphed.

Now McNamara has told his troops it is time they rediscovered their match-winning form.

He said: “My thoughts on Sunday’s match are that we need to win it. We are at home but I think we need to play a lot better than we did against Aberdeen.

“We will need to pass the ball a lot better and hope that the pitch has not taken too much of a battering after the heavy rain during that match on Wednesday.

“We felt the Aberdeen match was a chance to bounce back after the St Johnstone defeat but we didn’t take it. The Hibs match is another chance for us to do that.

“We are hurting at the moment but we must dust ourselves down and get ready for Sunday.”

Meanwhile, McNamara says a decision has yet to be made on David Goodwillie’s United future.

The former Tannadice favourite returned to the club in the summer on a six-month loan from Blackburn.

But he has scored just five times in 21 outings and was left on the bench for the 2-1 defeat to Aberdeen on New Year’s Day.

The Arabs boss said: “It depends. He’s here until January 13 so we’ll wait and see.”