Jim Goodwin understands supporters’ frustration after draw with Motherwell

Jim Goodwin admitted he understood why the Dundee United fans booed at the final whistle of the 0-0 William Hill Premiership draw with Motherwell.

The result meant that the Terrors have now failed to win in their last seven matches.

However, boss Goodwin was determined to accentuate the positives, with his side keeping their first clean sheet since September 23 when they beat Aberdeen 2-0.

The Irishman said: “We understand the frustration from the supporters. They turned out in great numbers again today. We’ve kept a clean sheet against a really, really good team.

“I’m going to give my players a bit of credit, off the back of a really disappointing performance last weekend.

“We’re not happy not to win the game. We don’t set up to draw games of football. But we set up in a way out of respect to the opposition. Motherwell are a very good possession-based team.

“I think they’re probably, at this moment, the best team in the country in terms of how they play the game.”

Goodwin added: “Now unbeaten in their last nine games, they’ve kept five clean sheets in their last five.

“Those statistics speak for themselves.

“But from us, the most positive factor of the game is the clean sheet and the way that we defended.

“Our keeper Dave Richards hasn’t had a great deal to do in the goal.

“I think he’s had a couple of comfortable saves. Clean sheets were the foundation of our success last season and that’s something that we haven’t had enough of this year.

“I think that’s our first clean sheet since September and that’s not good enough.

“So, it’s a good starting point for us to hopefully get a bit of confidence back in the group and build on that into what’s going to be another difficult game on Wednesday night.”

Motherwell boss Jens Berthel Askou admitted that teams are now trying even harder than before to stop the Steelmen playing their natural game.

He said: “It’s been a few weeks since we lost and we can feel the confidence.

“But we all feel we could have invested more in the game going forward.

“There were a lot of stops in the game that broke up our rhythm and there were unprovoked errors too.

“United were good at stopping us going forward – by winning the ball or making a foul.

“That made it difficult for us to create the big openings we have managed in the last few weeks.

“Teams are getting more information about us every week and are looking for ways to stop us.

“We have to deal with that. If teams find a way to stop us, we need a counter move.”