Gunning firing United Euro bid

Although Gunning had been highly rated within the Irish youth set-up for some time, Dillon had never heard of the ex-Blackburn man until he pitched up at Fir Park on loan last season. But since the pair have been team-mates – and lately defensive partners – Dillon has become a huge admirer of the 21-year-old. He said: “Gavin is flying at the moment, he’s been improving all the time and is really solid. I didn’t know him at all until he arrived at Motherwell. The first time I noticed him was when I heard the Irish accent when we played against them. So I got speaking to him and since he came here I have seen how good a player he is.

“He’s got all the attributes to be a real top centre-half and if he keeps working at it then there’s no limit to what he can achieve. He’s got pace, is good in the air and can use the ball well. He deserves all the credit he’s getting at the moment.”

United face Inverness in the SPL tonight and hope to emulate their March of last year when they went undefeated en route to claiming a place in Europe.

After wins over Kilmarnock, St Johnstone and Hearts during an unbeaten February, Peter Houston’s sixth-place side are firmly in the hunt for continental football again, but Dillon knows there is plenty of work still to do. “Spring has been a good time of year for us in the past,” he said. “We always seem to kick on at this time of the season and hopefully it’s the same this time round. It’s disappointing that we had such a poor start to the season because if we’d been like this all year then we would be right up there. But that’s the nature of this league, I don’t think there’s a single team who has been entirely consistent this season. Even Celtic, who are well in front now, were 15 points behind at one stage. The majority of the league is so close that everyone can beat everyone so it’s difficult to go on a solid run. It wasn’t so long ago that Rangers had the league wrapped up but Celtic have been really consistent in the last few months.

“Behind them I think everyone is capable of getting a result against each other. That’s why the SPL is an exciting league because it’s so difficult to predict what’s going to happen.”

Inverness full-back Graeme Shinnie, meanwhile, is confident they can upset the odds against in-form United after doing the same earlier this year against top-six teams. Inverness endured a difficult month with defeats against both sides of the Old Firm sandwiching a draw against bottom club Dunfermline. However, Caley Thistle had previously been on a seven-match unbeaten run, which included 1-0 victories over Motherwell and Hearts, and Shinnie has targeted a return to that form.

Time is running out for Terry Butcher’s men to launch a top-six charge as they are 10 points adrift of United, but they have a game in hand and victory at Tannadice would give them hope at least. Shinnie said: “We need to up our game. In the last few games we have been disappointing and I think the boys all know that. The game against Rangers we just didn’t turn up. We are looking to go down to Dundee and change the run we have been on and just win the game. They are doing well just now but if you look at our games against Motherwell and Hearts, who were both in third position, and we kept clean sheets against both of them and beat them. So no team is that much better than us. We’ll go there and attack and look to win the game.”

Shinnie was given a much-needed lift after the 4-1 defeat by Rangers when he received a late call-up to the Scotland Under-21 squad. The 20-year-old did not feature in the goalless Uefa qualifier against Holland but he enjoyed the experience.

“I was absolutely buzzing,” he said. “I was on my way home from Inverness after the game, disappointed, and I got the phonecall to go down to Glasgow and meet up with them. It was a bit of a shock but the days I was down there were really enjoyable. It was good to meet new people, they were all very welcoming and the coaching staff treated me very well.”