DUNDEE United manager Craig Levein has made patience this week's Tannadice watchword as his players prepare to face Inverness in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.
Levein expects former United manager Craig Brewster, his predecessor at the Tayside club, to set his team up for counter-attacking so has drummed into his men the need to keep cool heads.
The recent visits of Airdrie and Hearts, who both played a
system with one attacker, has given United a timely lesson in how to cope with teams prepared to sit in and, having recorded three successive victories, Levein wants them to stretch that total to four.
"We've got to be wary of Inverness coming here to hit us on the break," he said. "We got caught a bit like that against Kilmarnock, I don't want it to happen again. There is a trend this season which suits the away team and that's because a lot of teams are playing the 4-5-1 system which can become a 4-3-3. It's a great weapon to have, especially away from home, because it allows you to suck the opposition in and then hit them. What we've seen is that this way of playing makes the opposition over-commit and grow desperate.
"You don't want to be throwing men forward hoping for the best, it's about playing the game the way you want to.
"That's where patience comes into play, it's so important. I want my players to pick the right balls and be calm when they are in forward areas of the pitch."
Inverness manager Brewster, meanwhile has challenged his players to perform to the same standard they showed against Kilmarnock last weekend.
The Highlanders got their first home win of the season against Jim Jefferies' side with an impressive 3-1 victory, a win which means the Inverness club are now sitting pretty in fourth place in the league and Brewster wants his players to continue in the same manner at Tannadice. "I'm expecting a good, open game on Saturday and hopefully we can produce the same form that we displayed against Kilmarnock," he said.
"The fans started to get a wee bit nervous after we went a goal down last week but I have to credit the players because they did not panic.
"I thought our second-half performance was brilliant because we got forward and created lots of chances for ourselves. Hopefully we can play in the same way against Dundee United.
"They had a great result last Saturday against Hearts and by all accounts it was an excellent performance from them but we also played well last week."
The full article contains 447 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
