Dundee United

Dundee United boss Jim Goodwin makes two changes from the thrilling draw against Kilmarnock.

There's no Louis Moult in the squad due to a knee issue, while David Babunski drops to the bench.

In comes Vicko Sevelj, who may step into midfield, while Jort Van der Sande partners Sam Dalby in attack.

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St Mirren defender Scott Tanser is banned after being sent off against Motherwell and Shaun Rooney remains out after being suspended by the club following an assault charge.

Alex Iacovitti (tendon) is out long term and Conor McMenamin (knee) is working his way back to fitness.

United are without Ryan Strain, who is making good progress following hamstring surgery.

Former Hearts, Dundee United and St Johnstone defender Ryan McGowan says non-Old Firm fans will have enjoyed Celtic and Rangers being given a "taste of their own medicine" by "taking a pasting" in Europe against teams with a bigger budget.

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Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Dundee United's Will Ferry says the character they showed to dig out a point at Kilmarnock last weekend will hold them in good stead for the rest of the Premiership campaign.

Fifth placed United were 3-1 down after 64 minutes but they battled back in an encounter which finished 3-3.

Speaking ahead of Saturday's Premiership trip to St Mirren, the midfielder said: "The biggest thing is just character, you see teams go under all the time.

"We were 3-1 down, it is really easy to go under and I think the fact we showed that bit of resilience says a lot about us.

"That is something we can have in the back of our minds, that we can rely on, that we know when we get difficult times in the season in the games we are going to stick together and get through it.

"That is the main thing, it is just encouraging. Everyone has sticky spells in patches in seasons but we know we have got that character to come through the other side of it."

Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin takes heart from his side only losing once in five games against last season's top-six teams on their return to the Scottish Premiership. (Record), external

Read Friday's Scottish gossip

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Jim Goodwin has urged Dundee United to replicate their League Cup performance against St Mirren when they head to "the land of the giants" on Saturday.

It will be the second meeting of the sides this season, with United having knocked the Paisley team out of the League Cup in August.

"You know what you are going to get with St Mirren," Goodwin said of his former side.

"They are probably the most physical team in the league, it really is land of the giants when you play against them and you have got to do the basics well against them to get results.

"You have to win those individual battles, show aggression, and match them in every area. That is what we did in the recent cup game when we beat them at Tannadice.

"We are needing a repeat of that performance. It is going to be a difficult game, no doubt about it.

"This will be the third away fixture in a row for us so it has been quite demanding but the players are looking forward to it."

Having lost just one of their opening six Premiership games, Goodwin says his newly-promoted team have already proved they can compete in the top flight.

"If you look at the fixtures we have played until now, we have already played five of last season's top six," the Irishman added.

"We beat Hearts, drew with Dundee and had a narrow defeat to Rangers so I think the fixtures we have already played have hopefully proven to the group that they are more than capable of playing at this level."

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin has been speaking to the media ahead of Saturday’s Premiership trip to St Mirren.

Here are the main points:

• On the challenge St Mirren will pose, Goodwin says they are probably the "most physical team in the league" adding that his team "have got to win those individual battles".

• Having lost just one of their opening six league games on their return to the top flight, the United manager insists his side have proven they can compete at this level.

• Says coming back from 3-1 down to draw at Kilmarnock last week was "testament to the group" and was a "real test of character".

• Was full of praise for summer signing Will Ferry saying he has already been "one of our outstanding players" this season.

• But ater limping off at Rugby Park last time out, Goodwin says "we have to wait and see how he recovers".

• In other team news, Goodwin admits Kristijan Trapanovski will be sidelined for two to three weeks with a muscle injury, long terms absentee Ryan Strain misses out and there are "two or three" players carrying niggles.

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• Dundee United have only won one of their last nine Scottish Premiership meetings with St Mirren (D4 L4), a 2-1 away win in March 2022.

• St Mirren have won both of their last two league meetings with newly-promoted opponents, last winning three in a row in the top flight in November 2012.

• Since the start of April, only St Johnstone (9) have lost more Scottish Premiership matches than St Mirren (8), while the Buddies' 27 goals conceded in the competition is behind only Dundee (29) and the Saints (29) in this time.

• Dundee United are yet to lose away from home in three games in the Scottish Premiership this season (W1 D2); the only newly-promoted sides to avoid defeat in their first four on the road in a campaign in the competition since it rebranded in 2013 are Hamilton (5 in 2014-15), Hibernian (9 in 2017-18), and Hearts (5 in 2021-22).

• St Mirren have dropped more points from winning positions (7) than any other side in the Scottish Premiership this season. The Buddies have scored first in each of their last four league games but have won just one of them (D2 L1).

In form forward Louis Moult, 32, is showing why Dundee United wanted to keep him for their return to the Scottish Premiership, says manager Jim Goodwin. (Record), external

Read Thursday's Scottish gossip

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Jim Goodwin will have learned a lot about the character of his new look side last weekend.

They found themselves 3-1 down to Kilmarnock at Rugby Park midway through the second half, but they dug deep - very deep - to get something out of the game – Ross Graham’s added time penalty ensuring they returned to Tayside with a point.

Creativity and cutting edge are among the qualities that successful teams usually possess, but so is character. And Goodwin will now know – if he didn’t already – that his team have that in abundance.

In fact, sometimes character alone can get you something in the most unlikely of circumstances.

So that is another big positive the manager can take from what has been a very encouraging start to life back in the top division for fifth placed United.

It is just one defeat in their opening six league games – and if they can emerge with something tangible from this weekend’s trip to St Mirren, then you have to imagine all those of a Tangerine persuasion will take a real sense of satisfaction into the forthcoming international break.

However nobody at Tannadice will be resting on their laurels – the challenge going forward will be to try to ensure that they can build on the very solid looking foundations they already appear to have in place.

Macedonian winger Kristijan Trapanovski, who missed Dundee United's weekend draw with Kilmarnock after injuring his hamstring, could be out for up to four weeks. (The Courier), external

Read Wednesday's Scottish Gossip in full here.

Ronny Costello
Fan writer

It was a classic Tangerine rollercoaster at Rugby Park this weekend.

One goal up and cruising at half-time, then 20 minutes into the second half we're 3-1 down, before it ends 3-3.

Now, let's all take a deep breath.

Much of the group chat this week was focused on whether Jim Goodwin would stick with the dynamic duo of Louis Moult and Sam Dalby up top after their impressive cameo in the cup match last week.

The summer was all about working on a 3-4-3 formation. While we've started games in this system, there's been plenty of tinkering with formations, tactics, and personnel. More often than not, it's resulted in a decent outcome. But, heading into Kilmarnock, we were coming off two defeats, including a cup exit.

So, let's go back to that bit about being 1-0 up at half time. All good.

Pie and Bovril? All good.

An Empire Biscuit costing £2.80? NOT GOOD!

Imagine the half-time message: "Keep it going lads, stay solid at the back and take those chances. Oh, and remember to track your man."

Enter wee Davie Watson from Prestwick. In the blink of an eye, we're 3-1 down with Killie looking like world beaters. Oh, and let's not get started on the VAR lines.

Now, the debate over the delay in substitutions started immediately. From Killie's third goal to the subs - four of them at once - it took a whole ten minutes.

But it was worth the wait for the blockbuster finish!

A screamer from Craig Sibbald gave us a glimmer of hope before Ross Graham - the Blairgowrie Maldini - made sure we weren't going down without a fight, scoring from the penalty spot in the 99th minute.

Jim Goodwin rolled the dice with 15 minutes to go, and fair play, he had to. The four subs and switch to a 4-2-4 formation was an all-out attack, and from 3-1 down, when it looked like it might become 4-1 or even 5-1, this team showed its character and fight. We came away from Rugby Park with a well-earned draw.

We saw the good, the bad, and the downright bizarre in those 99 minutes. But, overall? We're doing alright.

Dundee United's trip to Edinburgh to take on Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership, originally scheduled for Wednesday, 4 December, has been brought forward at the request of both clubs.

Jim Goodwin's side will now visit Easter Road on Sunday, 3 November at 15:00.

Celtic's trip to Tannadice before Christmas has been selected for television coverage and moved to Sunday, 22 December at 12 noon.

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Luca Stephenson has experienced the highs and lows of penalty drama in the past two weeks.

The on-loan Liverpool defender fouled Moses Ebiye in the box late on in Dundee United's Premier Sports quarter-final against Motherwell, and the spot-kick was scored by Lennon Miller to send the Steelmen through to the semi-finals.

Though his fortunes were different on Saturday against Kilmarnock, as he drew a foul from Fraser Murray deep into added time. The successful penalty rescued a Scottish Premiership point for United.

It also drew praise from his manager, Jim Goodwin, who hailed his resilience and maturity at bouncing back from a tough lesson in Lanarkshire.

"It's clever from Stephenson to get himself goal side of the Kilmarnock defender, who is ball watching a bit and there is contact with his left calf which leads to the penalty," Goodwin said after the 3-3 draw.

"Stephenson held his hands up in the dressing room after that rash decision at Fir Park last weekend (to give away a penalty). Nobody in their career has probably done it as much as I have so I have every sympathy for him but he's man enough to own up to it.

"The players and the staff all got round him and picked his head up and he showed a positive reaction today. We've got to remember the boy's age as well and where he's come from. He's had a great education at Liverpool and we're hoping to continue that.

"He'll learn from situations like that and games like today are important moments in all the players' careers as well."

Watch highlights as Kilmarnock draw 3-3 against Dundee United in the Scottish Premiership.

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We asked for your views on Dundee United’s 3-3 draw against Kilmarnock.

Here's what some of you said:

Andy: Need to be realistic here. We've just returned to the Premiership, still only lost one Premiership game, a ground we never do well at and we've made a terrific recovery from a position which potentially we shouldn't have got into in the first place.

I'll take the point. We'd have taken a point against Hearts and we got all three. We're doing alright.

Robert: Great fightback but why didn't Jim Goodwin make the changes sooner? He should have changed formation and brought on the substitutions when we went behind and we could have been looking at three points rather than one.

David: That's how to make a draw feel like a win. United are not far from getting it right. Goodwin must have learnt a lot from that match.

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• Kilmarnock have failed to win in their last eight games in the Premiership. Their last longer winless streak was from 16th January 2021 to 6th March 2021, a run of 10 games.

• Ross Graham attempted 62 passes in this game, the highest total for a Dundee United player in the Premiership this season.

• Kilmarnock have won three points from losing positions in the Premiership this season, no team has recovered more.

• Luca Stephenson has assisted two goals in the Premiership this season (two in this game), no Dundee United player has more.

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Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin: "The players didn't give up. That's what I've got to be most proud of. Yes, we had to adapt and make changes but I always felt if we got the next goal at 3-1 it would be nervous for Kilmarnock.

"If you'd offered me a point before the game, I probably would have taken it because we know how difficult a venue this is, but, leading the game, you've got the feeling of is it two points dropped?"

Martin Dowden
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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United looked good in the opening period and likely to build on what has been a more than solid league start on their return to the Scottish Premiership.

A point here would, in ordinary circumstances, be a reasonably good outcome. In these circumstances, Jim Goodwin would have bitten your hand off when 3-1 down.

However, United seemed to have a good grip on this in the opening 45 and that slipped badly before their stunning response. Three points looked realistic before things fell apart for a spell.

Louis Moult's goal was full of quality, particularly the build up that led to it. To then keep going right to the end and get back on level terms from two down showed undeniable spirit.

But the period in which Kilmarnock surged at them, scored three and hit the woodwork must be of concern.

We saw good and bad from United. Fair play for the fightback and a positive outcome. It remains a good point, all things considered.

Ross Graham's injury-time penalty earned Dundee United an unlikely point and denied Kilmarnock a first league win of the season in a breathtaking contest.

What did you make of that game, United fans? Was a point each the right result, or did you deserve something more?

Who stood out for you? And did you expect Graham to take that penalty?!

Let us know your thoughts, external.