United victory made by Hearts!
Published:
DUNDEE United boss Craig Levein says lessons learned at Tynecastle helped him shoot down old club Hearts.
The former Hearts player and manager relied on instructions handed out by legendary Jambos boss Alex MacDonald that teams have to battle first before they can play.
Levein rubbed further salt in the wounds by reminding the visiting fans that Scott Robertson, the player who did more than most to lay those foundations, could have signed for Hearts as a youngster.
Levein said: “The players gave it everything, they rolled up their sleeves.
“Way back when I started playing, Alex MacDonald used to say you had to earn the right to win football matches.
“And that’s what we did.”
Robertson’s display vindicated Levein’s drawn-out attempts to sign him.
“Just about every game, he has been excellent,” the United boss said.
“When he was 17, I tried to sign him for Hearts and I tried to sign him for Leicester.
“Thankfully, I’ve managed to sign him for United and he’s actually a better player than I thought he was. That tells you something.
“But it’s difficult to pick people out. Craig Conway was also fantastic and Jon Daly played really well after difficult week for him personally.”
Both players also scored - Conway with a spectacular 30-yard free-kick just before the break and Daly with an impressive volley.
The Irish striker celebrated with baby daughter Sophie in mind as he capped off a dramatic week when his wife was given a successful blood transfusion following the birth.
Daly said: “It’s been a great week but it’s been a long week as well. We were in the hospital for 24-30 hours, it was a long old labour, but everything is fine now.”
And he agreed with Levein that there was no need to panic after United continued to recover from a run of 12 SPL games without victory.
“It could have been 3-0 at half-time and they couldn’t have complained,” Daly said.
“We’ve been playing well and proved it.”
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