Peter Houston believes size of task in Moscow cannot be underestimated

Peter Houston has said that Dundee United will be the underdogs against Dinamo Moscow but is confident that his team can give a good account of themselves.

Friday’s Europa League qualifying draw paired United with the Moscow side and Houston’s team will face one of the most challenging matches of the year before their domestic season kicks off.

The Tannadice manager will not go into the match blind, after confirming that he will send one of his coaching team to Russia to get the lowdown on Sergei Silkin’s team.

“They play Zenit St Petersburg in a league match on Sunday and we’ll have somebody at that match,” Houston told STV.

“It won’t be me but it will be one of the backroom staff who help us out. We’ll get a chance to see them, which is invaluable in many ways.”

Though he will have to wait to receive a scouting report, Houston’s initial homework has him convinced that he will be preparing his players to face formidable opponents.

“They’re a club with huge resources,” he said. “They spent £19m on a Hungarian winger [Balázs Dzsudzsák], they’ve got [Andriy] Voronin who played in the European Championships with Ukraine and they’ve got a number of Russian internationalists.

“So people should remember what task the Dundee United players are up against: a team with huge resources.

“It’s 11 v 11 and I honestly think if we get a full house at Tannadice a week on Thursday we can have a go at them and see what we can do.”

Houston also revealed that he already knew his preferred starting line-up for the match and refused to read anything into pre-season form that has seen his side beat local rivals Dundee 3-0, lose narrowly to Everton and defeat Raith Rovers 2-1.

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