Houston happy in narrow defeat

Dundee United might have lost a behind-closed-doors friendly 2-1 to Falkirk, but their manager Peter Houston still declared himself as happy with proceedings.

Eleven senior players were given run-outs, including Middlesbrough target Craig Conway and fellow recent dead-leg victim Jon Daly, and the Arabs supremo was more than content despite the result.

"We might have lost the game 2-1, but we dominated for long spells and the only thing that Falkirk had over us was the fact they are further on in their preparations," Houston told the Evening Telegraph.

"I`m absolutely delighted with the game yesterday. The lads all got 90 minutes and I did that deliberately because it`s the first full game they`ve had.

"I`ve always said results don`t matter during pre-season, whether we`re winning three or four nothing or losing by the same margin — it`s all about fitness at this stage and the boys worked their socks off," he added.

"We were a bit unfortunate to lose, but it shows us exactly what we`ve still got to work on."

The Arabs had both Scott Robertson and Danny Cadamarteri on the bench as a precaution but neither had to be used.

Meanwhile, those players who missed out against Falkirk will be included tonight in another closed-door match against Queen`s Park at Hampden.

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