DUNDEE UNITED have earned plaudits recently and shown some good form in the Premiership but it is up to us to stop them today.

There has been a lot of talk about the young players at Tannadice and they have some really talented boys that have come through the ranks there.

There is already interest in the likes of Ryan Gauld, Andy Robertson and John Souttar after their impressive starts to the season.

I don't know how long they will remain in Dundee but I think they would benefit from staying at United for a couple more seasons and learning the game before they move on.

If they were to leave now, they would probably get lost. They could end up in a youth team in England and wouldn't get the experience they can get up here.

If they can get another couple of seasons worth of first-team football under their belt in Scotland, they could then go and challenge to get in a team down south and look to play regularly at a higher level.

A lot of young players these days are dictated to by agents and, believe it or not, moves are sometimes taken out of their hands.

A lot of them will get promised a lot from their agents. If you go down south, the money is great. But players need to think about their careers.

There is no point moving and playing youth team football and not performing at the level you should be.

Jackie McNamara has some talented players at his disposal and we will have to be at our best to handle them today.

At the start of the season, you envisage how you think the league will shape up and who will be in the top and bottom six.

You are seeing that the league is starting to take shape now and United have got themselves into a good position.

We know the teams we have to be beating. We are going up there with a bit of confidence because we are playing well. Things are just not falling for us, though.

They are a good team and it is a meeting of two sides who like to play the right way and get the ball down and pass it.

United are one of the form teams in the country at the moment and they are scoring a lot of goals. Tannadice is a place we can go and win though and hopefully we can cause an upset.

I thought the result in the League Cup game a few weeks ago flattered them, to be honest.

We started the game well and dominated for large spells but they scored just about every time they went forward.

It was a strange night, a lot of managers we have spoken to since who were at the game said they couldn't believe we lost it.

I think the 4-1 scoreline was harsh on us to be honest but it was another game we didn't get a victory in and saw us knocked out of the cup at an early stage.

It has been a frustrating spell for the boys. We dominated against St Mirren and if we had kept it tight after going down to 10 men you never know what could have happened.

It is up to myself and Alan Archibald to make sure the lads' heads don't go down and that they are confident going into every game.

Last season, we were used to winning and we were in a position where we had to win week in, week out as we went for the title. This year it is different.

The boys have got to show character to come through this sticky patch.

We have to bounce back and get back to winning games and hopefully that will happen today and we can give the fans something to cheer again.