Jim Goodwin tells Dundee United players to keep believing they can beat the drop

Jim Goodwin has told his Dundee United players to keep believing they can beat the drop.

With eight cinch Premiership fixtures remaining, the Tannadice side are bottom of the table, two points behind Ross County.

Last week’s 2-0 defeat by Rangers at Ibrox left United 10 games without a win in all competitions.

However, ahead of their home clash with Hibernian on Sunday, the Terrors boss said: “There’s lots of examples over recent seasons of teams who have been in a similar situation to ourselves and have been able to turn it around.

“Those are the kinds of things that we are trying to stress to the players, you never give up, you never stop fighting, never stop believing.

“I remember many years ago when Hamilton, for instance, were bottom of the table going into the split, slightly adrift.

“They managed to go and win four out of their last five games to stay up.

“So you can never throw the towel in. The team above us, Ross County, are only two points ahead so they are the team we have to try to suck in and once we get to Ross County we have to look up to Kilmarnock to see if we can put a bit of pressure on them.

“The result Kilmarnock got against Hearts (2-1 win) last week should give everybody a bit of belief that, it doesn’t matter who we are playing, we are capable of beating anyone on the day.”

Goodwin revealed Peter Pawlett has joined the injury list after picking up a hamstring injury last week against Rangers.

He said: “The football gods haven’t been too good to us all season. The injuries have continued to mount up since I came in.

“Peter Pawlett went off with another hamstring problem, he is a real concern not just for this weekend but for the remaining games.

“Obviously Liam Smith, who has been a regular all season, is out with an ankle problem, Glenn Middleton (hamstring), Dylan Levitt (knee).

“Charlie Mulgrew has come back into the squad so we will see how he reacts to training and then we can make a decision on him.

“There are four or five players out who you would imagine would be pushing for a starting place.

“Every team has its own problems to deal with, that’s why you build a squad and there is an opportunity for some of the younger players to step up and show everybody what they are made of.”