McNamara: Players need more self-belief
Dundee United manager Jackie McNamara believes he has the most exciting young talent in Scotland at his disposal - and wants the players themselves to share his view as the prepare to meet Hibernian.
United secured their third win in four games under McNamara when they won 1-0 at Motherwell on Tuesday night after Gary Mackay-Steven set up Johnny Russell for the only goal on the counter-attack.
The pair and Stuart Armstrong, all Scotland Under-21 internationals, stretched Motherwell a number of times on the break in the second half and only the brilliance of Motherwell goalkeeper kept his side in the game before James McFadden's 73rd-minute introduction.
McNamara said: "There is a lot of ability here and it's just getting them to believe how good they are.
"I think some of the younger ones don't realise how good they are. There are some fantastic talents.
"For me, the other night, the forward line we had were the three most exciting players we have in the country.
"People were talking about McFadden coming back to Motherwell. When I look at our front three - Armstrong, Russell and GMS - it's exciting not just for Dundee United but for Scottish football."
Gavin Gunning is the only absentee as he undergoes knee surgery.
Hibernian will not be re-signing former Scotland midfielder Kevin Thomson, despite giving him use of the club's training facilities.
The 28-year-old, capped three times for his country, has joined up with the Easter Park outfit in a bid to keep himself fit after being released by Middlesbrough at the end of January.
However, manager Pat Fenlon insists he simply does not have the money to offer the former Rangers player - twice a Clydesdale Bank Premier League winner with the Ibrox club - a return to his former Leith stomping ground.
The Hibs boss said: "We have used up our budget in relation to players. We have given Kevin the facilities to come in and train and that's all there is.
"There are loads of players we would like to bring in if we had the money for it. Kevin is an ex-Hibs player and has been in training with us for the last few days and we're delighted to help him out but at the moment there is nothing more than that.
"So he's only here to train. He is obviously looking at his own career. He has been here before, still has a good relationship with people at the club so we wanted to help him out."
Fenlon will, however, be able to call upon midfielder Gary Deegan for the Tannadice trip after he sat out last weekend's 1-0 win over St Mirren in Paisley as he served a one-match ban.
That leaves defender Tim Clancy as the Easter Road manager's only injury concern as he continues his recovery from a hamstring tear.
Source: PA
Source: PA