Jackie McNamara believes the three forwards he fielded in Dundee United's midweek game are the three most exciting players in Scotland. United won 1-0 over Motherwell on Tuesday night to deliver the new manager's third win in four games. The game was won when Gary Mackay-Steven set up Johnny Russell for the only goal on the counter-attack. The pair along with Stuart Armstrong, all Scotland Under-21 internationals, stretched Motherwell a number of times on the break in the second half and only the brilliance of Motherwell goalkeeper kept his side in the game before James McFadden's 73rd-minute introduction for the home side. McNamara said: "There is a lot of ability here and it's just getting them to believe how good they are. I think some of the younger ones don't realise how good they are. There are some fantastic talents. For me, the other night, the forward line we had were the three most exciting players we have in the country. People were talking about McFadden coming back to Motherwell. When I look at our front three - Armstrong, Russell and GMS - it's exciting not just for Dundee United but for Scottish football." Hibs are the visitors to Tannadice tomorrow and McNamara is confident his side will create chances, having scored nine goals since he took over from Peter Houston. But it is the defensive aspect of the game that he believes will be key. United delivered a resolute performance at Fir Park following their 6-2 defeat at Celtic Park to restrict the Steelmen to just a few chances despite sustained pressure. The former Partick Thistle manager said: "We have created a lot of chances in every game since I have been here. We just have to defend well as a team, help each other and pass the ball properly. If we defend well in any game, we can score goals and hurt any teams in this league. Not many teams go to Celtic Park and score two and create the number of chances we did. Although it was a hefty defeat, I took positives from that. Obviously I took the negative side of it in the defending, which for me is preventable. It comes down to responsibility - wee things in the game, we always say it's a thin line. We scored a great goal (at Celtic Park) and because we had not switched on after scoring we lost a corner which we shouldn't have done. We didn't pick up properly at the corner and suddenly the whole game has changed, instead of keeping the ball for 10 or 15 minutes and maybe getting another chance to score. It's wee things that we will get used to and hopefully learn."
Source: ScottishFitba
Source: FOOTYMAD
