Dundee United

Jana McCabe
BBC Sport NI journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Dundee United defender Will Ferry has been called up to the Republic of Ireland squad for Saturday's friendly against Grenada (17:00 BST).

The 25-year-old has joined the side in Murcia and is aiming to make his senior debut after representing Republic of Ireland at under-19 and under-21 level.

Heimir Hallgrimsson's side face Grenada at the Estadio Nueva Condomina before welcoming Qatar to the Aviva Stadium on 28 May in another friendly.

Ferry has played a key role for Dundee United this season and scored twice and assisted the other goal during their recent 3-0 derby win against rivals Dundee.

He was also named Scottish Premiership Player of the Month for April and has made 33 appearances this season.

The wing-back will aim to make a similar impact at international level, with club manager Jim Goodwin expressing his interest in keeping Ferry amid reported interest from "a number of other clubs" in recent weeks.

As a result of the friendlies falling outside Fifa's international window, clubs are not obliged to release their players.

However, earlier in the week it was announced that Newcastle United midfielder Rory Finneran had received his first call-up to the senior side.

Cardiff City defender Joel Bagan and Ipswich Town winger Kasey McAteer have both been ruled out through injury, having being included in the initial squad.

Dundee United defender Dario Naamo will be fit to go to this summer's World Cup, if he accepts a call-up from Iraq. (Courier), external

Read the rest of Thursday's Scottish gossip.

United fans, we asked for your views on Tuesday night's goalless draw against relegated Livingston which secured a seventh-place finish.

Here's what some of you said:

Mierse: Interesting to hear Jim Goodwin say that some of the squad played their last game at Tannadice last night, it must be a pretty long list. We need less journeyman mercenaries and more skilled artisans looking to get noticed. This season was part of a journey - a huge influx of new players, some clicked, some didn't. Hopefully the new intake will bring a better balance to the team.

Gordon: We staggered over the line. Seventh is not great but it's all we could get. The loss of key players meant the last few games have been dull and unexciting. On to next season and cheerio to a few players we'll not miss, they know who they are. A big rebuilding job.

Euan: I joked with my son after the game that Jim would talk about the positives in his view of keeping a clean sheet and securing seventh place. Read the room, that was a dire display and the fans around us and people leaving the ground were of the same opinion. If he can't see what's happening in front of his own eyes he will never be able to fix it. Time for Goodwin to go or I fear a relegation battle for us next season.

Sean: Enough of Goodwin. How can we draw with the team relegated? We were unable to create more than one worthwhile chance. How do Livingston have more possession? It was torture, please just go.

Ian: A garbage, insipid performance which Goodwin will talk up to hide his shortcomings. There were zero positives - his post-split record every season is abysmal.

Jim: With Emmanuel Agyei, Amar Fatah and Luca Stephenson missing we can give United a bit of leeway for this performance but not much. The infamous back-three system got the runaround again from Stevie May and company but luckily VAR intervened and it stayed goalless and the position of seventh-place mediocrity is ours. We now have a nothing game at the weekend, isn't bottom six wonderful.

‌Dundee United right-back Dario Naamo has officially switched international allegiances from Finland to Iraq so the 20-year-old can play in this summer's World Cup., (The Courier), external

Read Wednesday's Scottish Gossip in full.

Watch all the action as Dundee United played out a goalless draw against relegated side Livingston. Available to UK users only.

Dundee United will finish top of the Scottish Premiership's bottom six after completing their home campaign with a goalless draw against relegated Livingston.

Read the full match report here.

Let us know your thoughts here.

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Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin: "The main positive that we'll take from the night is obviously that we've managed to secure that seventh place. We would have likened to have done it a couple of games ago, given how well we played against Dundee in the first game after the split.

"Everything was looking rosy and we looked like we were on a really good run but unfortunately we couldn't back up that performance against Kilmarnock and Aberdeen.

"But tonight, pleased to keep the clean sheet, albeit I think we made hard work of it at times. Rode our luck in the first half, Livingstone obviously hitting the post.

"Can't have too many arguments about the end result. The draw is probably fair, you know, either team could have just about shaded it but the positives for us are the clean sheet after our most recent two poor performances where we conceded lots of sloppy goals.

"We got some good valuable time into some of the younger players. Seventh place was the objective after the split. Of course, we're not going to celebrate that because it's not what we set out to achieve at the beginning of the season.

"It's way short of what we would expect but, we know what we need to do in the summer. We know the areas that we need to strengthen and hopefully we'll be more competitive for that top six next time around.

"We've done some good business up to now, you know, already. I think we're slightly ahead of the game with some of the pre-contracts that we've already managed to agree. We're talking to lots of other good, talented players.

"Those contract negotiations will be ongoing. We've got a few conversations that need to be had with the current squad, as well.

"Tonight will be the last game of Tannadice for a number of players in the squad and, I suppose that's the disappointment, really, that we weren't able to give our supporters a little bit more to cheer about."

Paul McNicoll
Fan writer

United's season is finally staggering towards the finish line like a defender chasing a ball over the top.

If it were up to me, we'd have called full-time weeks ago and quietly agreed never to speak of this campaign again until July.

Unfortunately, there are still games to play and United are still finding inventive new ways to concede goals.

Last week at Killie and again at Pittodrie on Saturday, it was the same old story. Defensive calamities served up with depressing consistency.

Honestly, I'm exhausted by it all. Tired of watching the mistakes, tired of hearing them discussed afterwards and tired of waiting for someone to actually fix them.

As for the idea of signing the on-loan Krisztian Keresztes permanently, absolutely not. That suggestion should be launched into the North Sea, ironically what Keresztes should have done with the ball prior to Aberdeen's first goal.

The prospect of rolling into next season with largely the same defence is enough to give most United fans heart palpitations.

Hopefully a couple of new faces arrive and maybe young Charlie Dewar, fresh from his successful loan spell at Alloa, gets a proper chance to stake his claim.

But those worries can wait until next week. First, there's two more games - Livingston at home tonight and St Mirren away on Sunday - to bring the curtain down on this season.

And honestly, I'd be more surprised if United didn't gift away another goal before the credits roll.

Paul McNicoll can be found at the Dode Fox Podcast, external

Image source, SNS

• Dundee United have won their past five league games against sides starting the day bottom of the Scottish Premiership since a 1-1 draw with Hibernian in November 2024.

• Livingston have lost their past two league games against United and could lose to them three times in a row in the top flight for the first time.

• United have only lost their final home game in one of their past six Premiership seasons (W2 D3), a 3-0 defeat to Kilmarnock in 2022-23.

• Livingston haven't won their final away game in any of their past 10 top-flight seasons (D2 L8) since a 3-2 victory at Hearts in 2001-02.

• Dundee United's Jim Goodwin has lost just one of his nine managerial home games against Livingston in the Premiership (W4 D4), losing 2-1 with Aberdeen in April 2022.

Image source, SNS

Dundee United midfielder Emmanuel Agyei drops out through suspension while Dario Naamo has gone for a scan on a foot injury.

Amar Fatah, Luca Stephenson (both hamstring), Kristijan Trapanovski, Isaac Pappoe (both knee) and goalkeeper Ashley Maynard-Brewer (shoulder) remain out.

Livingston interim head coach Scott Arfield will freshen his side. Jeremy Bokila is improving his fitness but Connor McLennan (ankle) is still out.

Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin has told his players they must bring their derby mentality into the final two games of the season.

United looked set to wrap up seventh spot in the Scottish Premiership when they beat their next-door neighbours 3-0 in the first game after the league split.

But they have since conceded five goals without reply against Kilmarnock and Aberdeen and the Dons are now just three points behind.

"The disappointment for me off the last two performances, I just don't think we reached the levels of the Dundee derby a few weeks ago," Goodwin told Dundee United TV as he prepares for Tuesday's visit by Livingston.

"Those standards, that level of professionalism, that mindset, needs to be a given every single week, every day in training, because there's always something at stake.

"Quite simply, the last couple of games haven't been good enough.

"Saturday was an opportunity for us to cement seventh place and there is prize money at stake. We have allowed Aberdeen the opportunity to close the gap.

"There is significance in the two fixtures coming up, but there will certainly be changes to the starting XI and there will be an opportunity for a few players who haven't quite got the minutes they wanted."

Dundee United trigger a one-year contract extension for Ross Graham with the defender planning talks over a longer deal at Tannadice. (The Courier - subscription required), external

Dundee United fans, we asked for your opinions on the 2-0 loss to Aberdeen at Pittodrie. Here's a taste of what you had to say...

George: We're drifting towards the end of the season, and still using players who aren't up to the task. We pulled Stirton back [from Airdrie] because he wasn't getting opportunities, and we don't give him opportunities - just one example.

We should be looking forward to next season and allowing the youngsters to show what they can do. I'm still behind Jim Goodwin but he needs to be more adventurous and positive.

John: Goodwin has lost the trust of the supporters and needs replaced. He has continually failed to fix a terrible defence by playing the same personnel and formation.

The attack is led week by week by Max Watters who can't score, can't hold the ball and offers no trouble to the weakest of defences. Time to go Goodwin, and save us from the boring football your team delivers.

Richard: Another clueless and baffling team put out by our manager, whose won two games from 13 post split. Same mistakes all season long. Players just get worse, then squad emptied end of season. Season ticket renewed but Goodwin needs moved on, with his coaching pal. Three-four-three? Don't ever say those numbers again please.

Jen: I've had enough of Jim Goodwin, and it's time he left. He's ruined United's season with his poor choice of goalkeepers and a disastrous three centre-back defence. United fans deserve better than him.

Image source, SNS

Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin says he expects to hold talks with some of his players in the coming days as he begins to plan for next season.

The Irishman oversaw a huge overhaul of his squad last summer and is preparing further changes to improve upon a bottom-half finish.

Goodwin, who was unimpressed by his team's performance against Aberdeen, said: "In the main, this group of players have been fantastic to work with.

"But I know what it's like to be at this stage of the season where we are playing for seventh place.

"It can be difficult sometimes to raise your game to the point where it needs to be at.

"But we are professionals at the end of the day and are paid good money to go out and perform.

"We know we have got some big decisions to make going into the summer and we will sit down with some of the players next week and make them aware of what our thoughts are in terms of their futures at Dundee United."

Image source, SNS

Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin: "The first 45 minutes was really, really poor. I don't think there was a great deal of quality from either team in the opening period.

"We got done with one ball over the top for Toyosi Olusanya, which is something we analysed all week. We spoke about it and worked on it in training.

"At 1-0, we are always in the game. The second-half was slightly better but nowhere near good enough for the quality of players that we have. To not have scored in the last two games is not acceptable.

"I just reminded the players there are two games to go, the season is not over. We've got a great travelling support coming up the road from Dundee today, who paid their hard-earned money to come and watch their team and we didn't give them a good enough performance."

A goal and assist from Toyosi Olusanya continued Aberdeen's improvement under Stephen Robinson as they defeated Dundee United at Pittodrie to stretch their unbeaten Scottish Premiership run to four games.

MATCH REPORT

HAVE YOUR SAY

Sealing seventh place in the Scottish Premiership is Dundee United's clear goal when they face Aberdeen on Saturday, says Zac Sapsford, 23. (Courier - subscription required), external

Saturday's Scottish gossip

Image source, SNS

Aberdeen have Emmanuel Gyamfi available after a head knock while Nicky Devlin might make the bench after returning to training following a three-month lay-off. Alexander Jensen is a doubt while Kristers Tobers (knee) and Nick Suman (ankle) remain out.

Dundee United are set to remain without Amar Fatah, Luca Stephenson (both hamstring), Kristijan Trapanovski, Isaac Pappoe (both knee) and goalkeeper Ashley Maynard-Brewer (shoulder).

Image source, SNS

Jim Goodwin has called on his Dundee United side to put last week's disappointing defeat by Kilmarnock behind them when they go to Aberdeen on Saturday.

United are seventh in the Scottish Premiership after an up-and-down season and were beaten 3-0 by struggling Killie last week off the back of an impressive derby victory.

However, Goodwin expects a positive response at Pittodrie.

"Last Saturday was a really poor performance from us defensively, which was something that I couldn't foresee before the game given how well we'd played against Dundee," said Goodwin.

"In fairness to the boys, any time we've had a poor performance like that, the bounce back has always been generally positive and that's what we're hoping for tomorrow.

"The players know what is to be expected against a good Aberdeen team who find themselves in a position that they wouldn't have wanted to be in at the start of the campaign.

"They've still got that incentive, I suppose, of trying to finish above us in the table. But if we win, then obviously that secures seventh place and that's got to be the motivation for us."

Image source, SNS

• Aberdeen have lost just one of their past 17 home league games against Dundee United (W8 D8) and are unbeaten in nine (W5 D4) since a 3-0 defeat in August 2014.

• United are unbeaten in six league meetings with Aberdeen (W3 D3) since losing 1-0 in October 2024.

• Aberdeen have picked up more points in their past three league games (7 – W2 D1) than in their previous 16 beforehand (6 – W1 D3 L12). At home, the Dons are looking to win three successive league games without conceding for the first time since a run of four from February to April 2023.

• United have lost their past two away league games, last losing three in a row on the road in the Premiership in May 2023.

• Only Hearts (22) and Rangers (21) have scored more goals from set-pieces (excluding penalties) than United (19) in the Premiership this season, while Aberdeen are the division's lowest scorers from such scenarios (eight). Meanwhile, only Livingston (21) have conceded more goals from non-penalty set-plays than the Dons (19).

Dundee United have made a new contract offer to goalkeeper Dave Richards, with the 32-year-old having deputised for Yevhenii Kucherenko then Ashley Maynard-Brewer this season. (The Courier), external

Manager Jim Goodwin has confirmed that Dundee United's out-of-contract players will know their futures by the end of this week. (Daily Record), external

Read Thursday's Scottish Gossip in full.