AFTER starting Saturday's match at Tynecastle with a chance of finishing third, Dundee United now go into their home game with Rangers on Sunday under threat of missing out on European football altogether.
They are still three points clear of fifth-placed Aberdeen, but both clubs have a goal difference of zero, meaning that if Aberdeen beat Hibernian and United lose to Rangers, Craig Levein's side will fall to fifth – out of the European places.
"We
didn't put together a decent team performance at all," Levein said after his team's 3-0 loss to Hearts. "We gave the ball away too easily. Our intention was to have a go today, but we didn't do enough. Hearts played much better than us."
While Levein spoke in the philosophical, almost world-weary tones of a man who has been over the course many times before, Lee Wilkie's response to the loss was a combination of anger and anguish. "It was the worst result, our worst performance, and the worst outcome for us," the centre-back said.
"We've put ourselves in this position – we've got to get ourselves out of it."
Celtic's draw at Easter Road yesterday means Rangers go into the last round of games with a two-point lead at the top of the SPL – a fact which may lessen their anxiety level at Tannadice. The fact remains, however, that only by winning the match can Rangers guarantee their first title since 2004-5: if they draw with United and Celtic beat Hearts, the champions will retain their crown on goal difference, while if Rangers lose and their Glasgow rivals win, Celtic will be champions by one point.
In other words, Rangers will go for the win at Tannadice. The likely consequence is that United, for all that they only require a point to finish fourth, will also open up and go for goals. They were in a similar situation last year and failed to make it, the only difference then being that there was no European place for the team which came fourth. With higher stakes this time round, Wilkie does not want to repeat the experience.
"It happened last year with Celtic," he recalled. "They won the league, we missed out, and Aberdeen went above us and we finished fifth.
"Hopefully the fact that we came here, played poorly, Hearts have celebrated and we've gone home disappointed is going to give us a boost for next week. We need to defend well and keep the ball better. Every part of our game has to be improved.
"We're looking for a reaction. Hopefully that's bad news for Rangers. It's going to be a tough game for both sides."
