DUNDEE United manager Craig Levein has backed Derek Riordan to shine in his second spell at Hibs, although he will be hoping the striker does not do any damage to his team when they travel to Easter Road tomorrow.
Riordan moved back to Edinburgh on deadline day following two unhappy years at Celtic and is expected to make his debut if he shrugs off a groin injury. Levein is a big fan of the 25-year-old forward and knows his team will have to guard against a pl
ayer keen to make up for lost time.
He said: "Hibs will get a big lift from Derek going back there. We'll have to wait and see if he's involved because he's got a bit of a groin strain. He's not played a lot of football over the last two years and sometimes it's not easy to get straight back into it.
"But I wish him well because you don't want to see players in that situation.
"Going back to Easter Road will rekindle his career because things stalled for him at Celtic.
"He's a quality player and it just shows that what you think is a dream move can sometimes not work out."
Levein insists his team's start to the season always threatened to be a slow burner after they were handed four tough away games in their first six fixtures.
The Tannadice side remain without a league win this season, having endured defeats to Hamilton and Kilmarnock as well as recording draws with Celtic and Motherwell so far, but Levein remains upbeat about their prospects.
United have performed well in patches and even though they have not yet hit top form, their manager is confident the strength in depth he gained by making seven summer signings will soon show.
Levein said: "We've had a very tough start. Four of the six games are away from home and one of the games at Tannadice has been against Celtic.
"Last season's start, on paper, looked a wee bit easier and this one is a bit harder, but you play everyone over the course of a season and it evens out.
"I think we've played some decent stuff, even if the results are not as we would've liked.
"With a bit more composure in the opposition's half, we'll get things right. I feel we're a better side than we were last season but even though we've shown that in spells we need to do it for an entire game.
"We've got a much stronger team this year and once things settle down I think we'll go on to show that."
The full article contains 445 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
