Alan Combe knew things were bad at Dundee United when he couldn't keep the ball out the net. But he realised things were worse when he failed to stop SCARVES raining down on him. The United Nol has suffered more jibes than most of his Tannad- ice team-mates - not due to his own form, but because he is the man closest to them. The 26-year-old has heard every abusive shout from every disgrun- tled supporter.

Every word has hurt. But the ex-St Mirren star said: "The worst thing is seeing scarves being thrown on to the pitch from behind my goal. "It really gets to you when you see them landing on the pitch. I think you know then that the fans have had enough. "I've lost count of how many times it happened. Whenever it does I just throw them back into the stand. "It's annoying but at the same time I can fully understand why they are doing it. Their club has gone from being a force in Europe to struggling to stay in the Premier League. "I think if I was in their position I'd do the same thing. It's just their way of venting their anger and you can't blame them for that." The United Nol is having a season he'd rather forget. But with the club eight points adrift at the foot of the SPL that just may not be possible.

He added: "Considering how some fans react to things like this, we've been treated well. "he supporters are frustrated but you have to accept that. I think they are beginning to sense that we are heading in the right direction. "Against Hibs last week it was probably the best support I've ever seen from fans. "If they get behind us like that every week then we'll not go down, I can assure them of that." The United players had a team meeting this week to discuss exactly where things were going wrong. Combe said: "We simply sat down and spoke about how we planned to sort ourselves out, and that can only be good for us.' ©Supergoals.com