Ross County manager not dismissing Dundee United threat
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Stuart Kettlewell is paying no attention to any criticism of Dundee United’s profligacy in front of goal.
Ross County travel to Tannadice tomorrow knowing that their opponents have not scored in three of their last four matches in all competitions, but without a goal in four league games themselves.
United may field two Scotland internationals up front in Lawrence Shankland and Marc McNulty, so although they may not have been in the most potent form, Kettlewell believes he would be foolish to underestimate their threat.
“We are talking about them not scoring in two games and Shankland is an absolute goal machine,” Kettlewell said.
“That tells you what my message will be. If Shankland gets a sniff then he will punish us.
“We will have to be at our best to stop him and the likes of McNulty, who we know can also come in and score goals – he did at Hibs and he is a massive threat.
“They have threats all across the pitch and even from set-plays because they have a real physical presence as well. So I am certainly not reading into any criticism of Dundee United.”
Micky Mellon’s side have shown a resilience at the back, with clean sheets against Aberdeen and St Johnstone recently.
County on the other hand, showed a frailty at the back last weekend, as they were hammered 4-0 at Motherwell, but Kettlewell sees more similarities in the teams than differences.
“They have been solid in parts, and they have lost games where they had expected to take something from,” he said.
“There has been a toughness from them in terms of not conceding, they have a solid base to build from, but they haven’t had much on the front foot, albeit they have some really good attacking talents in their team.
“We are two fairly evenly matched teams in my opinion, and the message comes down to my players making the correct decisions at the right times in games.”
