Houston says in-demand striker ‘not ready’ to leave Tannadice

The Scotland Under-21 striker capped a fine performance in last night’s 3-0 win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle with a superb goal.

Celtic are among a number of clubs watching the player but Houston believes he should stay at Tannadice for the time being.

“Johnny will develop into a player but he is not ready to move on,” said Houston. “He should stay here for another year to 18 months and then I won’t hold him back.

“He will attract interest. Celtic spoke to us in January about him but he is not ready for that yet.

“When he is ready, I will be the first to shake his hand but he is still learning just now.

“He works hard but he also makes mistakes. He has lots to learn but in 18 months he will probably move on.”

United are now unbeaten in six Clydesdale Bank Premier League games and moved above Hearts and St Johnstone into fourth.

Houston said: “It was a massive three points but I didn’t think we were at our best. We can play much better.

“The clean sheet pleases me the most. We are working very hard on that and the boys are doing well.

“Overall, the players worked hard and I was delighted to get the win. I can’t ask for more from them.

“We look dangerous in attack and we are solid at the back. There is a confidence and the players are expressing themselves.”

Inverness manager Terry Butcher criticised his side for poor finishing and sloppy defending.

Billy McKay wasted good chances in either half and Butcher believes their hopes of a top-six finish are now over.

He said: “The top six is gone now and there’s no point even thinking about.

“We just need to try and salvage what we can take from the rest of the season. We talk the talk, but we don’t walk the walk.

“I’m extremely disappointed that we haven’t pushed on but we have five games left before the split and we need to make the best of it.

“The first half was even and they got a goal out of nothing. It was a great strike from John Rankin – unstoppable.

“We conceded a sloppy second goal to Scott Robertson and it was the same with the third. It wasn’t a good day.”