Houston glad of quick turnaround

Dundee United manager Peter Houston is pleased the chance to avenge defeat against Motherwell has come around so swiftly. United slipped to a 2-1 Scottish Premier League loss at Motherwell last Saturday, courtesy of two own goals, including one for Scott Severin inside the opening minute.It was the second straight week in which United have begun a match lethargically, but Houston anticipates his side will be raring to go from the first whistle in tomorrow's Co-operative Insurance Cup quarter-final at Fir Park."It's great there's only two or three days for us to get an opportunity to right our wrongs," said Houston."We didn't play well on Saturday - Motherwell deserved to win, we didn't turn up."I'm sure knowing the players we've got, that we'll get a reaction from it - I'm absolutely positive that we'll start the game well tomorrow night."Houston led United to Scottish Cup success at Hampden Park in May, with Craig Conway scoring twice in the 3-0 defeat of Ross County.Conway is a doubt to play Well after suffering a recurrence of a problem in the back of his leg, which United believe to be at the base of his hamstring as scans of his knee have come back clear.But even if their Hampden hero is absent tomorrow, United will be on the attack with the possibility of the national stadium hosting them in a last-four clash."We look at this game totally differently to Saturday," added Houston."We learn, hopefully, from our mistakes and one thing for sure is there's no point trying to sit back, you have to go and try and win a cup tie."We get an opportunity to get back to Hampden if we get through and that's the biggest incentive for the players."Going back to Hampden, in a semi-final, no matter who you're playing, it's a one-off game, anything can happen."After successive defeats, Houston has called for his players to rediscover the qualities which led them to third place in the league and the Scottish Cup success last season."Before the Motherwell game we'd won four out of six and the two games we'd lost were the Old Firm," he added."We have to get back to basics of defending properly - I don't think we defended properly on Saturday - and that means from the front back."I don't think we won any second ball in the middle of the park and I don't think we won our individual battles."That's not like Dundee United, the team that's played for the last three or four years, and we have to get back to that."Defeat would mean three straight losses for United ahead of Saturday's league meeting with Hibernian at Tannadice.But Houston is only contemplating one outcome tomorrow."We've not got any thoughts in our heads of losing three on the trot," he said."It's a cup tie, it's a one-off game, but if we go into Hibs having lost tomorrow night I don't think it puts any pressure on us."The way I'm looking at it is we're going to try and get into a semi-final of a national cup."We have no thoughts of losing tomorrow night."

Source: Team_Talk