'On Saturday we can show the real Dundee United again'
Dundee United defender Vicko Sevelj doesn't believe their recent heavy defeat to Celtic will knock them off their stride.United were thrashed 5-0 at Tannadice last time out as the Hoops sealed the Premiership title.Sevelj insists that home humbling wont derail what has been a positive season for the fifth place Tangerines and he feels their remaining schedule of games could give them the edge in the battle to finish as the best of the rest behind the Old Firm."We now have four games, four finals, until the end of the season," Sevelj said. "The opponents we are playing are not such quality like Celtic because they are the champions of the league. On Saturday we can show the real Dundee United again."The 24-year-old Croatian has earned rave reviews after a string of fine performances since he arrived from Slovenian side NK Radomlje last summer."I have enjoyed it," he added. "It is a long season here, that is the first time I have experienced that without any big break."I have enjoyed it and I think my game has developed in every aspect of the game, because I am playing in the toughest league in my life so I think my development has been good."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scotsman
4 hours ago
- Scotsman
Hearts goalkeeping issues played down as Craig Gordon discusses a new Scotland opportunity
Season 2025/26 is just around the corner Sign up to our Hearts newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Four Hearts goalkeepers are recovering from injury ahead of the new season following a series of fitness issues. First-team members Craig Gordon, Zander Clark and Ryan Fulton have been sidelined alongside reserve keeper Harry Stone. With players reporting to Riccarton for pre-season training next Friday, Gordon played down concerns over the lack of fully-fit goalies. He missed Hearts' last three Premiership games of the 2024/25 campaign as well as Scotland's friendlies against Iceland and Liechtenstein due to a shoulder problem. Clark had a foot ligament complaint which resurfaced in the final league game at Kilmarnock. Fulton took his place after 22 minutes of that match but then injured his groin. Stone returned from his loan at Ayr United with a knock which precluded him from their last four games of the season. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad New Hearts head coach Derek McInnes and his staff will assess the situation when players arrive back at the club's training ground. Gordon, though, is hopeful he and others will be fit and ready for competitive matches starting on 12 July in the Premier Sports Cup against Dunfermline. 'Just as well we didn't get to the [Scottish] cup final because I don't know who would have played in goal,' joked the 42-year-old. 'Yes, it's not a great place for the goalkeepers at the moment. Luckily enough, we've got a bit of time before the games start up again, so I think we'll all be fine.' Gordon has more reason than most to accelerate a recovery with his testimonial match due on 26 July against former club Sunderland. He has held talks with McInnes and believes the new manager is reinvigorated by the new season's challenge in Gorgie. 'I spoke to him last week. He phoned me from his holidays and he's very excited. He's really motivated to get in and get started,' said the keeper. 'I spoke to a few other players as well and that's the thing that's come through - how excited he is to get in and start getting things in place straight away. I think that's refreshed everybody, that positive mindset that he's put on everybody already. We're going to work hard, we're going to get ready for the season. I think everybody's really looking forward to getting started now.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Scotland keeper issue as Norwich and Ipswich EFL men feature at Hampden Goalkeeping injuries also struck the Scotland camp in Gordon's absence last week. Angus Gunn, who recently left Norwich City, was forced off with an ankle problem just minutes into Friday night's friendly with Iceland. Ipswich Town's Cieran Slicker took his place as substitute for an international debut which won't be fondly remembered. He was at fault for all three Iceland goals in the 3-1 defeat at Hampden Park. 'It's happened now. There's not really too much I can say about that,' admitted Gordon. 'I know he's a confident, strong young boy and this is right at the very beginning of his career. He's got a long time to come back from this and I think he will. He'll go back to his club and work away and try and get more game time. But that's part of his story now and it's now about the comeback. You can make that work for you. I think that's what he has to do now is accept that it's happened, move on and continue trying to improve and get more games. Get back there and have another shot at it.' Gordon intends to contact Slicker for a chat as a long-serving member of the goalkeepers' union. 'I'll probably let him have his holiday first and maybe get away for a little while,' he said. 'As a goalkeeper, you know you're going to make mistakes during a season. You're going to cost the team goals, that's every single goalkeeper for every single club all over the world. If you play a whole season, you're going to lose probably a couple of bad goals that are going to cost your team. You have to accept that. 'You have to accept that as part of playing the position that you are going to be the reason your team doesn't win from time to time. That's just the nature of it. You have to move past that, accept that that is the case and not be scared of it. Still do the right things, still make the decisions. That's the only way to move on from it. It's that acceptance that's going to happen. It wasn't great, but we move on. We try not to do the same thing again.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Slicker, 22, found himself thrust into the international fold despite playing just seven competitive games in his career to date. The situation highlighted the dearth of emerging Scottish keepers playing at the top level for national coach Steve Clarke to select. Aberdeen's second-choice, Ross Doohan, was then called up to face Liechtenstein. Gordon watched the games and acknowledged that the international goalkeeping spots are currently up for grabs. 'I think the opportunity is there right now for the next batch of goalkeepers to come through,' he stated. 'There's a few of them that have been out on loan, been down in the lower leagues and done quite well. It's about their progression now and getting that right and making sure they're still developing. Still getting games, but also still working on everything else they need to work on. I think this is the opportunity at this moment in time to focus on that, to concentrate and make sure we are getting the goalkeepers the right pathway to get them through.' Craig Gordon's future decided with new Hearts contract One of his long-term career ambitions is to become a goalkeeping coach and help nurture a new generation of top quality Scottish No.1s. 'Yeah, I think that's something that I would like to do,' said Gordon. 'That's an area that we need to look at and I need to try and improve. We need to bring through more goalkeepers. I don't know why that hasn't really happened, really, over a number of years. We have had good goalkeepers and guys that have played in the leagues for a lot of years. 'I think, obviously, the international team was quite a closed shop for such a long period of time. Perhaps the exposure to that wasn't there and maybe that was the reason why. But that's not the case anymore. So, hopefully we can get people in and even exposed to that level of training. Because when you go and train with the Scotland team, the level is so much quicker than what it is when you train at club level. Especially from the Scottish teams to the international team. You've got guys playing in the top leagues in the world. You notice a difference in the speed of the game. So, if we can push more goalkeepers towards that and give them that experience, then that will improve them as well.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Coaching is for the future, though. Gordon will remain purely a player for season 2025/26 after agreeing to extend his Hearts contract by another 12 months. A hectic first half of the season made him wonder if he wanted to continue, but a more regular schedule from Christmas onwards helped finalise the decision in his mind. 'It was right towards the end of the season. When things went down to one game a week, I felt better,' he explained. 'In the second part of the season, I actually felt myself getting stronger. That was the reason I felt that I could probably still do another year. The European games coming thick and fast in the middle of the first part of the season was difficult. Coming back from my leg break, that was the first time I'd played a stretch of games in a row. I think it always takes quite a while to actually get back to the level you were before. I felt towards the end of the season that I could start to feel that I was getting even stronger. So, that was why I thought I could still go another year and go better again.' • Tickets for the Craig Gordon Testimonial Match – Hearts v Sunderland, Tynecastle Park, 3pm, Saturday 26th July – are on sale now through Supporters can keep up to date with all of the latest Craig Gordon Testimonial information at
Scotsman
4 hours ago
- Scotsman
Celtic land 'massive bonus' with latest transfer deal
McManus sees more than just a left-back with return of Tierney to Celtic Sign up to our Football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... It's not often a Scottish football club lands the complete package football signing for free, but there is a strong argument for such a scenario in the case of Celtic and Kieran Tierney. The Scotland defender's return to Celtic, six years after leaving for Arsenal, was confirmed on Tuesday afternoon. Tierney has penned a five-year contract with his boyhood club and his return has been warmly welcomed by all of a Celtic persuasion. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The left-back won his 50th cap for Scotland against Iceland earlier this month and comes back to Glasgow with experience of the English Premier League with the Gunners, plus a season on loan with Real Sociedad in La Liga. He is comfortable playing as a centre-half these days and, as Celtic B coach Stephen McManus points out, has plenty of miles left to put on the clock. Kieran Tierney has returned to Celtic on a five-year deal. | SNS Group 'Listen, it's massive,' McManus said of Tierney's homecoming. 'The biggest thing is the age that he's at, coming back. It's not as if he's coming back with two years to go within his career. He's still got his full career ahead of him, which is great. You look at the knowledge that he's then gained, being at Arsenal, being away, playing in major tournaments now for Scotland as well. I think it's brilliant. I think it's really, really good. The fact that he's coming and hopefully he's got a good few years ahead of him. He can stay fit and he can bring his personality and his quality to not just the football team, but to the whole football club.' McManus – a true leader in the Celtic teams he played in and now a coach of youngsters – knows a thing or two about setting examples. He believes the influence Tierney can have on the dressing-room as well as on the pitch is just as important to manager Brendan Rodgers. 'It's probably one of the biggest things once you become that kind of experienced player,' continued McManus, speaking to promote Celtic's friendly with Newcastle United next month. 'When you're young and you're developing and you're playing, you play with no fear, but then the older you get, you start to then take interest in a lot more of what goes on around the football club. How you conduct yourself on the pitch, how you conduct yourself off the pitch, especially a club like here, it becomes really important. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad A Celtic captain-in-waiting 'You can see that with Callum [McGregor], you can see that with James [Forrest], the ones that have come through the academy structure here for a long period of time. They're very similar in their personalities and that's really important. Kieran's going to then bring that as well. Again, he's younger than the other two boys, so it's going to be a massive, massive bonus not just for the football club, but also for the national team as well.' McManus accepts the notion that Celtic have another captain-in-waiting in Tierney. 'You never know what's around the corner,' he said. 'I think if Callum doesn't play for whatever reason, there's somebody that's got the personality, he's got the profile, he's got the ability. But like I said, it's just a brilliant signing for the football club because he brings so much on the pitch and so much off the pitch. 'You need people that know the football club to take it on to the next level because you're always educating the next ones that then come. But first and foremost, Kieran's a top, top footballer. He's not coming back because he's a Celtic fan. I think that's important as well. He's coming back because he's a top, top footballer and he's going to bring his experiences, his knowledge and his qualities so that he can then help our football club move forward.' Even at the relatively tender age of 28, Tierney is now the fourth oldest player in the current squad. 'Your job once you become an experienced player is to educate the younger ones and that's when you speak of the business model of the football club,' added McManus. 'What's the recruitment strategy? What does it look like? So Kieran fits that bill because, again, he knows the club but he's a fantastic footballer and his best years are still ahead of him.
Scottish Sun
5 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Celtic granted permission to open talks with top transfer target with two more wingers added to Hoops watch list
CELTIC have been granted permission to hold talks with hitman Benjamin Nygren. SunSport revealed earlier this week that the £2million Nordsjaelland attacker was on Brendan Rodgers' wishlist. 3 Benjamin Nygren in action for Sweden Credit: EPA 3 Brendan Rodgers wants him ion at Celtic Credit: Alamy The Hoops have now made a move — but face some stiff competition in the race for the 23-year-old's signature. Copenhagen and Anderlecht are keen on Nygren, but interest has emerged from the Bundesliga and MLS too, and Nordsjaelland chiefs will allow him to speak to any interested club. The Sweden star only has six months left on his contract, and his club are ready to let him leave for a cut-price £2m fee now. Nygren scored 16 goals last season, and also netted twice in four international appearances. He has previously said that he wants to play in a top-five European league. But the Hoops can potentially offer the carrot of Champions League football next season. And their track record at developing players will also appeal to the Swede. Nygren, who started his senior career at IFK Gothenburg, blossomed as a goal scoring attacking midfielder for Nordsjaelland. He can also play on either wing or up front, and captained the Danish club last term. Rodgers is keen to add more creativity in midfield and Nygren has been identified as a top addition. Ex-Celtic coach Eric Black on the Cup exit that rocked Scottish football plus life with Lubo and Dr Jo Celtic have already snapped up Kieran Tierney on a five-year deal from Arsenal. Ross Doohan will arrive from Aberdeen as a back-up keeper, while 19-year-old Fulham hitman Callum Osmand is poised to sign. Celts are also looking at wingers, with Sarpsborg ace Sondre Orjasaeter a potential target. Anderlecht kid Nilson Angulo has been watched, but the 21-year-old Ecuadorian insists he's ignoring all links. He said: 'I'm focused on Anderlecht, I want to get back there and we'll see what happens. 'Next season, I need to improve on small details, like my finishing and as I play more matches for my club and my national team, I'll improve. 'I'm really happy with what we've achieved and proud of the group. We're prepared and focused on the World Cup.' 3 Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page
