United’s final pre-season friendly brings Championship side Dundee United to Brunton Park on Saturday [kick off 3pm] for what is expected to be another tough outing.
Assistant manager Gav Skelton spoke to us ahead of the game.
“It’s one I’m sure we’re all looking forward to,” he said. “It’s the last chance to get out there before the big season starts.
“In terms of preparation, it steps up another level, and it will be nice to be back at Brunton Park. The last time we were there, because of the Wembley game, the last home game gets overshadowed, against Bradford at Brunton Park, and that was a special occasion.
“Hopefully we can have a few more like it this year. That’s why there’s excitement around because we’re really looking forward to the new challenge. We’ve got promoted, we’ve got a good bounce, a good momentum, and I can’t wait to get going as the season starts.”
“Hopefully, and I know it’s a friendly, we’ll get a decent crowd,” he added. “Hopefully the shirt sales and everything is a good sign that the club’s going in the right direction, hopefully people come on Saturday.
“I think it showed at the Bradford game, Barrow at home, you forget how important a place it can be. We want that to start on Saturday, but especially a week on Saturday against Fleetwood.”
On what kind of opposition Dundee United will be, he commented: “They’re under way, they’ve had a couple of disappointing results, but when you look at the squad and some of the players they’ve got, they’ll be a really tough test.
"They’ve got some really talented players. They’ll be disappointed with the results they’ve had and they’ll be wanting to go into their league season the week after in a good place.
“This kind of game, at home at Brunton Park, it feels more proper. Being back there on a Saturday, and with a week to go, it’s not the same as the real thing but it’s a step up, a notch up towards where we want to be.”
And will it be played with selection for the Fleetwood game in mind?
“I think with experience, the manager will decide and he’s more experienced than me, but you learn from pre-season not to read too much into things,” he insisted. “You look for little things and pick the bones out of it, but don’t read too much, because there are different circumstances and scenarios for it.
“We will look at some aspects of how we’ll do things against Fleetwood, but not everything. This week and next week we’ll be working on shape and set plays, and things like that, because it’s all important once we get into the season’s games.
“It does start to ramp up as we get closer to a week on Saturday and the Dundee United game is part of that.
“Other than Kai Nugent we’ve managed to keep everybody fit, which is pleasing. That’s why we’ve managed the game and training time for everybody.
“Hopefully we can continue to have as many as possible available. I don’t want to jinx it, but it is important we have everyone fit.”