United manager Peter Houston insists his Motherwell opposite number, Craig Brown, proves there is no substitute for experience in management. The Tannadice boss is at the opposite end of the spectrum, having only been a manager in his own right since December, but he has spent 19 years in coaching learning his trade. Eyebrows were raised when 69-year-old Brown took over at Fir Park along with fellow veteran Archie Knox but any thoughts people had they were out of touch were quickly dispelled as they have led Motherwell to the verge of third place. United know a win will hand them a firm advantage in the race for Europe but Houston knows he will have to outsmart his wily dugout opponent. Brown gave some of his Motherwell players a week off after their last game, a 3-1 win over Hearts on 13 March, while United played a rigorous 90 minutes on Wednesday when knocking Rangers out of the Scottish Cup. 'Well defender Jim O`Brien hopes his side can hit the ground running on their return as they challenge for third spot. O`Brien said: "It's probably the most important game of the season for us. We know what we want to achieve now and that's catch Dundee United. The manager has not put any pressure on us at all, he just said try to confirm top six and then start looking upwards. We've got top six and all we can do is look up. Just to get away from football for a week was excellent and just chilling out was brilliant. But coming in on Monday, the boys were all wanting to do extra. That's good to see in the dressing room, we all want to stay in winning ways. Hopefully that and United playing on Wednesday night will help us. But you don't get anything else but a hard game up at Tannadice.'' |
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