Dundee Utd shows Jim Goodwin they have the ‘guts’ for relegation battle

Tannadice’s men put on an improved second-half performance after being thoroughly overplayed in the first 45 minutes at the Tony Macaroni Arena. Steven Bradley’s goal had given Livingston a deserved advantage but Aziz Behich equalized after the break.

Goodwin felt his side were the more likely winners from then on, but neither side could find another route to goal when the spoils were shared on a freezing night in West Lothian. United remain three points behind fellow contenders Kilmarnock and Ross County.

But while the United boss insists neither he nor his players will be carried away by a draw, he believes they have shown him they have the ‘character’ required to emerge from a dangerous position at the United Cup rid the bottom of the Premiership table.

The result ends a demoralizing run of six straight losses and Goodwin is hoping his side get a psychological boost in time to halt the rot.

“We have shown that we have the fighting qualities that we need in the relegation battle,” he said afterwards. “The only way we’re going to get out of this is to show guts and character and I’ve seen that. It’s also crucial that we showed the fans that we have this fight.

“I’m happy we managed to break the losing streak, that was really important tonight.

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“This is a notoriously difficult place for any team. I thought we were the better team in the last hour after starting the game very poorly. I have my fair share of the blame for that too.” because the system didn’t work.

“But the players showed exactly the qualities you need when you’re in a dogfight in relegation. If it went 1-0 to Livingston some teams would collapse but the lads held together.

“To be honest, I thought the draw was fair.”