Calderwood: Houston boosts Dundee

Houston stepped up to the hotseat following the departure of Craig Levein while the club launched a search for a new manager.And, despite claiming on a number of occasions that he has no interest in the role on a permanent basis, the Tannadice number two has agreed to remain as interim boss for the remainder of the campaign.The news came as United prepare to take on a Kilmarnock side still seeking their first win in the SPL since Calderwood replaced Jim Jefferies at the helm."It will certainly give them a boost," said the Killie manager."I read in the papers that the players all wanted Peter so that's going to be beneficial to the football club and it's also great for Peter."He has done great. At the beginning, they got hammered at Ibrox but that can happen to anybody."Peter wasn't too sure himself whether to do it or not but he has decided to do it and the players are happy with him."The team I saw on Sunday at Falkirk, they did everything for him to win the game. I think it's a very astute decision."He added: "It will be very tough, they've done great."I saw them on Sunday and they were very impressive against Falkirk and Jimmy Nicholl watched them on Wednesday when they came back against a very good St Johnstone team."All credit to them. We know how difficult it's going to be."Kilmarnock battled out an uninspiring goalless draw against Hamilton in midweek and Calderwood has left his players in no doubt that he is demanding an improvement this weekend.He said: "I was disappointed. We were improving in every game."I've been quite quiet to be honest as I don't want to shatter the confidence any more but I was back to normal the other night at half-time."I wasn't very happy at all. To be fair, they were a lot better in the second half but it was still a scrappy game."Lack of goals has been a problem for the Ayrshire club, who remain firmly in the relegation zone just a single point ahead of bottom side Falkirk."The biggest problem is getting the chance to work with them," Calderwood admitted."We've had games on the Saturday and then midweek. It's been very difficult to do a lot of tactical work or finishing work with them."You just hope it comes. You can practice all day but sometimes it's just about having the confidence on the day."

Source: Team_Talk