New United striker Beto Naveda has warned his fellow-countrymen at Dundee not to take victory for granted in this weekend’s Tannadice derby. Naveda, who made a scoring start in the defeat at Motherwell on Saturday, is convinced United’s long wait for a first league win will end shortly. And if it comes in the derby, when he could be lining up against fellow Argentinians Claudio Caniggia and Juan Sara, he will be delighted. "I will be speaking to them this week and after the game. Then it would be better for me if Dundee United have won," said the 28-year-old. "Even if that has not happened, I think it will be soon when we start winning. Going forward at Motherwell we were very good, and I think we could have won. a"If we can keep playing in this way, we will win.

On Saturday we could have, because we played better than them for a long time." Naveda was united with his team-mates in disagreeing with the dismissal of centre-half Jim Lauchlan after 31 minutes at Fir Park. Lauchlan will now miss the derby and, with skipper Jason de Vos also suspended, United have a major defensive problem to solve before the weekend. Youngster David McCracken has recovered from injury and will play in tonight’s Under-21 game against Motherwell at Tannadice. If he comes through that, he is likely to partner John Licina and David Partridge against Dundee.

United will also field two trialists in tonight’s U/21s fixture - assuming the game beats the weather. An Icelandic striker and an English midfielder have been pencilled in for places. Boss Alex Smith has insisted that even problems like that, and the record-breaking run without a league win that has left the club stranded in the SPL’s basement, will not force heads down. "All we need is a break and, when we get one, the gap above us can disappear very quickly with three points for a win." ©Evening Telegraph