Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin expects his players and neighbours Dundee to put another spectacle as the Tayside city takes centre stage in the William Hill Premiership.
With Scotland’s five European representatives all electing to postpone their fixtures, the derby at Tannadice is the sole Premiership encounter.
Goodwin said: “I love the big games, I always have. Of course there’s a nervous tension before it and you want to make sure you’ve got everything right in the build-up to the game. But you have to enjoy being part of these types of games.
“Of course we enjoy it even more in the end if we get the result we are all after.
“The new players we brought to Dundee United, they all want to be involved in these types of big games, live on TV, a full house at Tannadice, so much on the line for both teams. As a player and manager, if you can’t get up for these types of games then you’re in the wrong game.
“The Dundee derby over the last couple of years, all the games have been really good spectacles. They are well supported. Both teams have done themselves justice in this fixture.
“Every game has its significance and this one has a little bit more significance than others, because of the relationship between the two clubs, the rivalry that’s there, and of course we want to send our supporters home happy.
“With it being the only league game of the weekend, it also gives us the opportunity to close the gap on a few teams above us.”
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United will again be without Will Ferry, who missed last weekend’s 4-0 Premier Sports Cup defeat by Celtic with a groin injury amid transfer speculation surrounding his future.
“Will is still feeling the groin,” Goodwin said. “He went for a scan last week and it showed up just a tiny little strain in the groin area.
“Obviously, when he’s missing for a game of the importance of last weekend, people tend to jump to conclusions but what Will said was wrong with him showed up on the scan.
“The game will come too soon for him, but everybody else is in good shape.
“It certainly won’t impact him. It’s not a serious injury and I would expect Will to be absolutely fine going into the game next weekend.”
Meanwhile, Goodwin remains unconvinced about Celtic’s second goal at Tannadice despite the club seeking clarification from the Scottish Football Association.
The ball struck Kasper Hogh’s hand before Camilo Duran netted but the SFA stated it was a “consequence of his playing action and completely accidental” and reiterated that the goal would only be disallowed if the goalscorer handled.
Goodwin “wasn’t at all satisfied” with the explanation and added: “We had an instance in Falkirk v St Mirren a couple of weeks before where it was pretty much identical. There was an explanation given from the SFA which I think gave us more questions than answers to be honest.”
