Jim Goodwin accuses of Rangers dark arts as smirking Dundee Utd boss lays out kick off delay 'test of character'

Goodwin's side took a battling point back to Tannadice after a nightmare journey to Glasgow

It was a chaotic journey to Ibrox for Jim Goodwin and his Dundee United players.

But after battling through Storm Bert with just 45 minutes to spare before the delayed kick-off against Rangers, it will be a much happier journey back to Tayside for United with a hard fought point in their pocket. An accident on route saw the Tannadice men face a race against the clock to make it to Govan - with boss Goodwin revealing before the game that a second delay was requested to allow the visitors time to warm up after arriving at the stadium just before 3pm.

While it appeared the approach was knocked back - the players went through their warm-up before referee Don Robertson was forced to step in and usher the players off the field in order to meet the 3.45pm kick-off time. However, the game would be delayed by another 10 minutes before a smirking Goodwin and his players emerged from the tunnel.

Former Tannadice boss Ian McCall detected some dark arts from the boss, telling BBC Sportsound: “I think Jim Goodwin is trying to make a point here. I don’t know this, I’m pretty sure they would have asked for 4 o’clock and by hook or by crook he is going to try and get it as close to 4 o’clock as possible. They were out 24 minutes before kick-off? That is not enough time.”

Fellow pundit Billy Dodds felt the additional delay would impact on Philippe Clement 's side adding: “I don’t think it will affect Dundee United as much as it will Rangers. I think there is a bit of brinksmanship. There is no way Dundee United were going to go for 3.45. It’s maybe just pushing the boundaries as far as he possibly can.”

After battling to a draw, Goodwin could only riff on the resilience of his squad. He told Sky Sports: "Given the circumstances prior to the game, and everything the players have had to deal with; they sat on a bus for four and a half hours to get from Dundee to Glasgow and only arrived at the stadium with 50 minutes to kick-off. A real quick warm-up and real test of character and I'm really pleased we have been able to take a point away."

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