Cooper back at County
Former manager Neale Cooper has returned to Ross County as assistant boss to Derek Adams.
The ex-Aberdeen and Rangers player spent six years at the helm of the Highland club between 1996 and 2002.
He was most recently in charge at Hartlepool, where he had a couple of spells as manager.
Adams was pleased to see Cooper back at the Dingwall outfit as part of a restructuring of the backroom team.
He told the club's website: "We've got an extremely small staff here at Ross County and it is vital that we have a structure in place and have the right people in place to take the players, team and indeed the club forward.
"Neale is someone that I've known for a number of years and having had him join us for a couple of days of training it was obvious his qualities complemented what we already had in place here, so I'm delighted that he's agreed to join us."
Cooper will be in the dugout for the Clydesdale Bank Premier League match against Dundee United.
The visit of the Tayside club is the first of two back-to-back home fixtures for County, with St Mirren making the trip north midweek, and Adams is keen to make home advantage count.
He said: "We've been on our travels for eight out of 14 games in the SPL and we've got two home games now.
"Dundee United are a very good side. I watched them against Kilmarnock and they have excellent attacking players. We're in for an exciting match.
"The players here enjoy playing in the big occasions and we've done exceptionally well against Aberdeen and Hibs in the recent home games.
"United are a team who can cause any team problems on their day. They did well against Celtic recently as well.
"We're just looking to put the onus on Dundee United and hopefully we can come away with a win."
County are boosted by the return of Rocco Quinn from suspension for the game.
A late decision will be taken on Mark Corcoran (groin) and Paul Lawson (hamstring), who are both back in training after recovering from their respective injuries.
Martin Scott (ankle) remains on the sidelines ahead of the clash in Dingwall.
Meanwhile, Dundee United manager Peter Houston hopes his side do not leave it late again as they attempt to return to winning ways.
The Tannadice men have been relying on second-half fightbacks recently, including their 3-3 draw with Kilmarnock last Friday when captain Jon Daly headed home a last-gasp equaliser.
Their slow starts have been a source of concern to Houston, who instead wants to see them take charge from the start and give themselves some much-needed breathing space during games.
He said: "It's something we need to change and we've spoken about it this week.
"It makes it hard for everyone, not just the strikers, if we have to continually come from behind and try to take points.
"I would much rather see them take the lead and be able to relax a bit than giving ourselves a mountain to climb with a poor first-half performance.
"I've got a great bunch of lads who always give their best so hopefully we can get on the front foot against County and stay there.
"That's our aim and I think we have the players to do so.
"When we get our noses in front we can show what a good team we can be."
United will make a last-minute decision on full-back Keith Watson, who returned to training this week after a knee injury kept him out of last Friday's match with Kilmarnock.
They have no other new injury worries from the side which drew with Killie.
Source: PA
