A great afternoon on the pitch has been overshadowed by an injury to Nicky Clark according to Dundee United boss Robbie Neilson.
The Tangerines were dominant at Firhill, putting former boss Ian McCall’s Partick Thistle side to the sword in a 4-1 win. A Lawrence Shankland hat-trick and an Adrien Sporle effort sealed a big United win. Kenny Miller bagged a late consolation for the Jags.
Shankland was in fine form. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
With one more game played than the rest of the top four, United are now a whopping 17 points clear in the Championship title race. Only a meltdown of epic proportions will stop them winning the division now.
There was a negative in this win though. Nicky Clark was hooked with what looked like a bad ankle injury. Neilson confirmed these fears at full time.
“There’s a wee bit of a downer on today just with Nick Clark, it’s disappointing,” conceded Neilson. “He’ll go up to the hospital tonight but it looks as if he’ll be out for an extended period.
Clark could be gone from the Dundee United team a while. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)
“It’s a great result but looking at the bigger picture, he’s been a big player for us. Not just on the pitch, but in the dressing room. We’ll see what it’s like in the next couple of days.
“We’ve got a good squad, we’re missing a number of players. You look at the guys who travelled down just to watch today, Ian Harkes, Calum Butcher, Paul McMullan, all these types of guys that have been regulars
“The guys that have come in have been great. Mark Connolly’s come in after being out for a number of weeks, Dillon Powers was excellent today, Declan Glass too, and it was great to see Peter Pawlett back on the pitch.”