United have a defensive crisis on their hands as they prepare for Saturday’s Dundee derby. The controversial sending-off of Jim Lauchlan during the Tangerines’ 2-1 defeat at Motherwell means they will be without the heart of their backline against the Dark Blues. Captain Jason de Vos, who picked up a red card in the previous meeting of the city sides at Dens, was already suspended for this weekend’s game after passing the penalty points threshold.

Now Lauchlan, whose ordering-off infuriated United boss Alex Smith, will sit alongside his skipper in the Tannadice stand when the Dark Blues come calling. Keeping them company are likely to be Danny Griffin, Stephen Wright and Jim Paterson, with young David McCracken just battling back to full fitness. It means yet more chopping and changing for United, who have now used a remarkable 34 different players so far this season. Not only does Smith have a selection dilemma to solve, he is also facing almost certain censure from the SFA for his reaction to Lauchlan’s dismissal.

The United man was adjudged to have elbowed Motherwell striker Lee McCulloch and referee Alan Freeland issued a straight red. "It’s difficult to say anything without getting into trouble," said Smith. "Up until the sending off we were in control and were under no pressure at all. "But the red card changed the course of the game for half an hour. I thought Jim Lauchlan was unfortunate and was a victim of a harsh decision. "I was up in the stand at the time but all I saw was that Lauchlan tried to block McCulloch coming onto the ball. "It didn’t look a nasty thing to me, all I would say is it was a foul for obstruction at most."

Despite being a man down for just under an hour, the visitors probably did enough to deserve a point and at least Smith should find some solace in the debut displays of Beto Naveda and Charlie Miller. The two new men were the Tangerines’ top performers, with Naveda becoming the first United player to score in an away game this season and Miller adding craft and ability to the midfield. Miller, signed on a free transfer from Watford, has been accused of wasting his talent but he showed flashes of his old skills throughout the game before tiredness meant he was substituted late on. He said, "It was my first game since January so hopefully I will just keep playing away, keep training, get fit again and play as many games as possible. "I didn’t think I’d last as long but hopefully after another couple of games I can get in a full 90 minutes. "It was good to play on a Saturday again. I enjoyed it and the boys were good to me. I settled in as if I’d been here for a year."

Miller was also the victim of an odd refereeing decision in the first half. He won the ball with a tough tackle on Martyn Corrigan then found himself surrounded by Well players, who thought the challenge had been illegal. Mr Freeland then inexplicably booked Miller, who looked to be the innocent party. "I think the red card for Jim came from the incident of my earlier tackle and the crowd’s reaction," he said. "I think the referee made an instant decision, saying that Jim had elbowed their player but I don’t think he touched him. "I think he tried to get him out of the way and maybe he just caught him but the referee’s made the decision and you just have to get on with it." His manager added, "I don’t know what Miller got booked for and I wasn’t happy at him getting booked. "Charlie’s always going to get attention and the crowd may have helped the referee make up his mind."

After going two goals down to a Ged Brannan penalty-a soft award given against De Vos-and a well-worked goal from Stuart Elliott, Naveda pulled one back for the Tangerines. Home striker John Spencer, who knows Miller from his Rangers days, was fulsome in his praise of both the midfielder and United as a whole. "Charlie proved today that he is a quality player, though if you check out the shirt and tie he has on you can see he is not much of a dresser," joked Spencer. "I remember seeing him when I was at Ibrox and he was the best school kid I had seen in 10 years. Everybody knows he is quality." Spencer added, "United were a team battling for their lives. They out-fought us and deserved a point." But no such luck for the Tangerines, who go into the derby on the back of the worst run of results in their history ©The Courier