Daly shrugs off favourites tag

13 May 2010 16:18

Jon Daly insists there is no chance of Dundee United buckling under the pressure of being branded favourites for Saturday's Active Nation Scottish Cup final against Ross County.

Irn-Bru First Division County have already established themselves as the giant-killers of the competition by dumping out both Hibernian and Celtic on their way to Hampden and will again be regarded as the underdogs this weekend. But Daly is certain they will not be caught cold by the Highlanders.

"You have to take it as it is," said the striker. "We were favourites for the semi-final (against Raith) and we came through that okay. We just have to make sure that we go about the job in the right way and that we play to our capabilities."

Daly continued: "If we are favourites, then so be it. We still have to do the job we have to do to win the cup. We've had a couple of First Division clubs in the cup this year so we know what they are about.

"The manager will have done his homework on Ross County and he will keep the boys up to speed on the way they play and their strengths and weaknesses.

"We will have a good meeting about that and, hopefully, that will put us in the right frame of mind."

Daly knows County's semi-final win over Celtic, in particular, will give their opponents plenty of cause for optimism this weekend, which will need to be matched by United's own players.

He said: "They basically beat the second best team in Scotland, so they will be coming into the game full of confidence and hoping they can beat us.

"We've had a good season and we have finished third in the league so the team is feeling quite good. It's a big game and you have to be confident going into games likes this."

Source: PA