Jim Goodwin’s next target is Europe after Dundee United secure top-six place

Jim Goodwin challenged Dundee United to hunt down the teams above them in the race for Europe after they surged eight points clear of sixth-placed Hearts with a 1-0 win at Tynecastle.

The Tannadice side secured their top-six place in the Premiership on Saturday after results elsewhere went their way.

And they had more joy on Sunday after Sam Dalby’s stunning second-half header, following an error from Michael Steinwender, was enough to secure a hard-fought victory over the 10-man Jambos and keep them on the coat-tails of Hibernian and Aberdeen.

“During the season, we’ve been in and around the top six pretty much the whole time,” said manager Goodwin. “Had we not been able to secure the top six after being there all season, it would have been a major disappointment.

“Once that got confirmed yesterday we had a good, positive meeting with the players back at the hotel and discussed the fact that the league is not over.

“Just because we have got that top six now doesn’t mean the next seven games are meaningless because we want to push for those European places now. We look at the opportunity to try and catch the teams above us.”

United capitalised on the 38th-minute dismissal of teenage Hearts forward James Wilson, who went into a challenge with Luca Stephenson with his foot raised. Goodwin did not think there was any intent to hurt his opponent but felt a red card was “probably the right outcome”.

Goodwin also insists he will never allow himself to be ashamed of having a team that places great emphasis on being hard to score against.

It was an 11th clean sheet in 32 league matches for United, who have the best defensive record in the league outwith the top two of Celtic and Rangers.

Goodwin knows his conservative style of play is not to everyone’s liking but is adamant that being solid at the back is a fundamental quality of any team with aspirations of success.

“I’m a little bit old school and sometimes get criticised for it but I really do believe in doing the basics as a team,” he said.

“I think setting a team up to be organised and to be disciplined and to keep harping on about concentration levels and decision-making is a huge part of the game.

“If you look at any league all over Europe, the teams that tend to be up there near the top of them have got very, very good defensive records.

“Of course we want to score more goals, we’d like to be more creative, we’d love to be involved in 4-3 thrillers every now and again. But at the same time from a manager’s perspective, clean sheets are vital.”

Goodwin has overseen back-to-back 1-0 wins away from home over the past two weekends with entirely different centre-back combinations.

Ross Graham and Vicko Sevelj played as a two at Ross County but both sat out the match at Tynecastle due to injuries, where teenage debutant Sam Cleall-Harding, Declan Gallagher and Emmanuel Adegboyega formed a back three.

Academy graduate Cleall-Harding, 19, only got the nod after Graham pulled out in the warm-up.

“Ross was touch and go all week and he managed to get through the training session (on Saturday) and declared himself fit for the game,” explained Goodwin.

“Unfortunately in the warm-up he felt it again and we didn’t want to risk it becoming a season-ending injury.

“I brought Sam back from Kelty in January in the hope that I’d be able to get him an opportunity between now and the end of the season.

“(Sunday) was a bit of a surprise for him, but at the same time I thought he was really assured alongside Gallagher and Adegboyega. He did the basics really well.

“We’ve seen him in training all season, defending against the likes of Louis Moult, Sam Dalby and Jort van der Sande.

“He always stands up to the physical side of the game, he’s got good mobility, is very comfortable on the ball and I think he’ll take a lot of confidence from that performance.”