Source: FOOTYMAD
Which Team Will The Fountain Bless
All bets are off on which team will leave the field with a date in their diary booked for 15 May. Two determined teams could make it quite a semi-final. Dundee United will be heading to Hampden today hoping acupuncture will allow captain Andy Webster to lead them out for the second Scottish Cup semi-final, against Raith Rovers, to see who meets Ross County on 15 May in the final. Webster was originally diagnosed as suffering from a calf injury but that has since been re-diagnosed as a nerve problem in his back. The medical team are pinning their hopes on acupuncture which will ease Webster back into contention. Manager Peter Houston is hoping full-back Mihael Kovacevic will shake off a hamstring strain, but he cannot call on Garry Kenneth who is suspended and Scott Robertson (groin) is a long-term injury absentee. Full-back Sean Dillon has suffered the agony of twice sitting on the bench at Hampden and watching United suffer penalty shootout heartache. You can guess that he is rather keen to be involved so he can influence today's result. The Irishman was an unused substitute in the 2008 Co-operative Insurance Cup final against Rangers and also found himself kicking his heels in last season's semi-final defeat by Celtic. But he looks a certain starter against Raith today. Dillon said: "I'll be trying to make sure I get a game at the weekend, please God. I've missed out playing but obviously they're good occasions and being involved at Hampden is a big thing because there are only a certain amount of games that get played there each year.'' Despite his lack of action at Hampden, Dillon boasts more than his fair share of cup semi-final and final appearances. The former Aston Villa trainee won two FAI Cups and one League of Ireland Cup while at Longford Town, as well as finishing runner-up in the latter competition. He also has one semi-final run-out to his name since joining United when he played in the 2008 League Cup victory over Aberdeen at Tynecastle. But he never imagined he would be running out at Hampden this season following Craig Levein's departure as manager back in December. Dillon said: "It certainly didn't look like that, if we're honest, after the week or two that we had. The first week or two after Craig left was rough. Houstie deserves a huge amount of credit for the job he's done". United could hardly have produced a worse response to Levein taking the Scotland job, with the deepest trough being a 7-1 defeat at Rangers summing up a poor run of form. But caretaker boss Peter Houston has since steadied the ship and United have not looked back since, charging into third place in the SPL and putting themselves on the brink of Scottish Cup glory. Allan Walker has spent this week looking back with both pride and bemusement at Rovers' turnaround in fortunes over the last year. The Kirkcaldy side were promoted to the First Division last season and manager John McGlynn has continued their development, guiding the Starks Park club to today's semi-final. While acknowledging the Taysiders are favourites, former Livingston midfielder Walker is allowing himself to dream of a showpiece final appearance in May. Yesterday's result shows there are no guarantees in football when 11 line up against 11. Walker said: "Getting to the final would be brilliant for the fans, the supporters, the chairman - everyone. Around this time last year, we were getting ready for an away trip to Stranraer in the Second Division. Now we are in the First Division and going to Hampden in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup. You would never have thought that would be the case, so it's great. I've never had a great run in the Scottish Cup apart from this year. I've been beaten by Alloa twice, once with Livingston and once here at Raith so I'm enjoying this. If we give a good account of ourselves against United then we can win the game. It is winnable. United have been in great form this season and they are playing well but we are flying and the underdogs are never easy to beat. When you go in to a game as underdogs, you do so with no pressure on you. So we will make it hard for them.'' Walker will play at the national stadium for only the second time but he believes the wide open spaces of the Hampden pitch will suit the Kirkcaldy men. He said: "I have only played at Hampden once before and we won the league there last year against Queen's Park. Graham Weir scored a great goal for us that day to win the game. It was a great experience and hopefully there is another one waiting for us on Sunday. We will try and play football the right way; the manager wouldn't have us playing any other way. We will get the ball down and pass it and we have great attacking options going forward. We create chances so we will just go out there and do what we can.'' Editor Ger Harley (ger@scottishfitba net)Admin Team (admin@scottishfitba net)This is ScottishFitba Net
