JIM GOODWIN | WE WANT TO GET IN THEIR FACES

Dundee United Manager Jim Goodwin spoke to the broadcast media to preview our William Hill Premiership clash with Rangers on Matchday 32.

The boss outlined our intentions to meet the challenge in Glasgow head on to keep our Top Six hopes alive heading into the final round of pre-split fixtures, before offering an update on team news and contract talks with his squad.

Watch the full press conference below! 

ON THE INTERNATIONAL BREAK 

The international break probably came at the wrong time for us given the kind of form we were in going into it, having beaten Celtic and performed really well against Dundee in the game prior to that. 

Sometimes it can be a good thing and sometimes it can be a bad thing - hopefully it doesn't curtail that bit of positive momentum that we had.

The guys who were away in international duty have all come back injury free, thank God, and we're really looking forward to the trip to Ibrox on Saturday.

ON TAKING CONFIDENCE FROM OUR VICTORY OVER CELTIC

We've got to take a lot of confidence out of that Celtic game in particular. I thought it was really dominant and not very often over the last few years have I been able to say that when you're playing against a team with the quality that Celtic have got.

It's the first time in 35 years that we've managed to beat Celtic twice in the league and a really good achievement from the group.

ON OUR TRIP TO GOVAN

We played really well on both occasions against Rangers and as you say we're unbeaten against them - we have to believe in ourselves. We've had a settled team in the last couple of games and there won't be too many changes at our end with regards to what the starting eleven looks like. 

We're just hoping for a repeat performance of the one we got against Celtic. Defensively we were excellent and at the top end of the pitch we carried a real threat all afternoon.

Going to Ibrox is slightly different. Rangers don't often lose too many games in the league at home. There's so much at stake for both teams as well. Rangers can't afford any slip-ups, and from our own perspective we're still pushing for the top six, albeit we need all the cards to fall in our favour.

Danny Rohl deserves a lot of credit when you consider where Rangers were when he took over - they’re back in the fight for the title. They've made some good additions to the squad in January as well. 

We want to build on the bit of momentum that we've got. We performed really well at Ibrox in the early part of the season and ultimately we were disappointed not to actually come away with all three points.

We know it's going to be a tough test but at the same time we're going to go there, be positive and try and cause an upset. We want to get in their faces, not over-respect them, be aggressive and then as I said when we get the opportunity to play, we have to show a bit of courage and composure on the ball.

ON OUR TOP SIX HOPES REMAINING ALIVE

We've certainly not given up hope but we know that we're relying on other teams doing us a favour. Falkirk are away to Motherwell at the weekend which we know is not an easy fixture, albeit Motherwell have dropped a little bit of form over the last three games. 

We can only take care of our own job and that is to try and go to Ibrox and try and get maximum points. It's not something that we've been able to do a great deal in the league over the last 10 or 15 years but we have to believe we're capable of doing it this weekend.

We know the atmosphere is going to be extremely hostile. The early part of the game is really important for us to deny Rangers getting a foothold in the game and stop them building any positivity. 

We can only really focus on what we can control, which is our game in Ibrox. What happens elsewhere will be irrelevant until five o'clock.

ON TEAM NEWS

Kristijan Trapanovski unfortunately will likely miss the rest of the season which is really disappointing. It’s been a difficult, stop-start campaign for him - we know when he's fit, he's one of the best wingers in the league but injuries have curtailed his progress. He underwent some surgery yesterday and he's going to get the best of treatment from our medical team.

Isaac Pappoe is obviously a long-term absentee and the game tomorrow has probably come too soon for Johnny Ruseell. He was out on the grass during the week with the physio but it's too much of a risk to throw him into a game like this one. Hopefully for the Livingston game he'll have a better chance.

ON FORWARD PLANNING FOR 2026/27

We're moving forward and doing a lot of work in the background in terms of identifying targets. We've already done a bit of good business with regards to some pre-contracts for some very good players and conversations with the current squad will be happening in the not too distant future.