New-found goal threat makes for happy Hearts

Dundee UNITED have not scored a goal at Tynecastle in three years. Barry Robson's penalty in the 89th minute of a 3-1 win in October 2007 was the last time a United player rippled the stadium's rigging.

Despite four victories from five encounters with Hearts at Tannadice in the intervening period, visits to Gorgie have proved somewhat more taxing.

Tomorrow, Peter Houston must hope his side can discard European dejection and pierce the Hearts defence to kickstart a hitherto disappointing campaign. A 1-1 draw with St Mirren and a 4-0 home trouncing by Inverness Caledonian Thistle have been dramatic comedowns following last season's Scottish Cup success and third place finish. Factor in the 2-1 aggregate Europa League play-off defeat to AEK Athens and scoring goals suddenly looks difficult ahead of the trip to Edinburgh.

Whilst striving to improve in that department, United must also counteract the potent home forward line, a relatively new phenomenon at Hearts compared to recent seasons. Breaking the scoring hoodoo and simultaneously resisting Hearts' advances will test all of United's resources, something Jim Jefferies fully intends to capitalise upon.

He hopes to have the reinvigorated Calum Elliot fit to partner Kevin Kyle. Both players, Elliot in particular, have helped make Hearts an attacking force to be reckoned with during the opening weeks of the season. Nine goals have been slotted past admittedly modest opponents in St Johnstone, Hamilton and Elgin City, and consequently confidence is high. It is, of course, all part of the manager's plan to alter team mindset.

"What I'm pleased about is that the Hearts supporters will know that myself, Billy Brown and Gary Locke have tried to change things since we came in," said Jefferies. "That's not a criticism of the previous regime, but we know what the Hearts are about. The fans want to come and see us at least making an effort to win a game, as opposed to how things have maybe been before.

"You've got to create chances, but to do that you must be positive and give players the confidence to go and express themselves. You need to believe in them and, when you get opportunities to put balls in the box, you need strikers who can get on the end of them. We have that with Kyle and Elliot.

"The players are really enjoying it and I think they're enjoying scoring goals because it was difficult for them before. The supporters have always had that tradition of seeing the ball down and passed around.

"We've just encouraged that and some boys have shown they enjoy doing that. It's not just about going and passing the ball around, what we've insisted on is a determination and work rate. The thing about these first three games is there was a willingness to get the ball back quickly and not just wait for opponents to come on to us."

With Elliot nursing a knee injury and recent signing Stephen Elliott doubtful with a hamstring complaint, Jefferies has a back-up plan in mind should both players miss out. Ryan Stevenson, free of suspension, is back in contention and able to operate as a second striker alongside Kyle or as an orthodox central midfielder.

"Ryan was flying in pre-season but after two weeks without a game you could see he needed the game on Tuesday.

"He tries too hard to score, that's his problem when he's playing up front. He'll benefit from 90 minutes under his belt, as will Kyle and Eggert Jonsson.

"Ryan's got that ability to drop off and cause teams problems when he plays as a striker. He did that well for us in pre-season games and he can also play midfield. He's a handy man to have. All the good work he did pre-season wasn't quite evident on Tuesday but that's because he's been out through suspension. You will see a big improvement in him once he gets another couple of games under his belt."

Versatile Ugandan David Obua has also returned to training but is not yet fit enough to face United. He is expected to feature after the international break along with Gary Glen and Andy Driver.

"Driver and Glen will be a couple of weeks. We're keeping our fingers crossed we don't pick up a lot of injuries. I always say that, when you're fitter, you have less chance of picking up injuries. We are looking fit and strong even towards the end of games, especially with ten men against Hamilton last Saturday. We're really happy with the way the boys have applied themselves."