Jim Goodwin denies disrespecting Rangers boss Philippe Clement and hits back at Ian McCall claim

Jim Goodwin insists he wasn't trying to play mind games with Philippe Clement as he denied "disrespecting" the Rangers manager.

The Dundee United boss irritated his Ibrox counterpart in the build-up to Saturday's 1-1 draw in Govan by urging his players to turn the home crowd against Clement's underperformers due to the "negativity" around the club. His remarks prompted a fiery response from Clement, who admitted he liked it when others motivate his squad.

As it happened, Goodwin's game plan worked out as Gers were booed off the park and half-time and full-time having dropped more costly points. But the Irishman said: "I really wasn't trying to be clever - I was just stating the obvious. It's something that managers say every time they play Celtic or Rangers away from home.

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"We know the expectation that's on those two teams, and we know the fans can be quite fickle if things aren't going to plan. I have a lot of respect for Philippe Clement. It wasn't a case of disrespecting anybody. We go there and we try to quieten the crowd, frustrate Rangers and deny them space."

Goodwin also hit back at former Tannadice boss Ian McCall, who suggested on BBC Sportsound that he pushed for an even later kick-off time than the rescheduled 3:45pm. United endured a gruelling four-and-a-half hour bus journey from Tayside to Ibrox as Storm Bert wreaked havoc across the country.

The Tangerines then went for a pre-match meal after arriving late in Glasgow before eventually pitching up at Ibrox. United were still going through their warm-up when the delayed fixture was meant to kick-off, engineering another 10 minute wait. McCall sensed a use of the dark arts but Goodwin said: "The players needed a pre-match (meal). They’d been on a bus from 9.30am.

"Certain people were saying we should just go straight to the stadium and play the game on an empty stomach and things like that, which is just ridiculous. They (Rangers) asked for 3.30pm and we managed to get 3.45pm. Unfortunately, we weren’t ready for 3.45pm. But we’d done everything we could to get ready.

"It’s not just a case of running off the bus, sticking on your strip and playing. We’ve got player welfare that we need to consider. The players need to get warmed up to avoid injury. Some of them have strapping they need to get from the medical team. All of these things add up. There was nothing sinister in anything that happened.”

He added: "The weather; the accidents – it all mounted up. If people think that’s any sort of advantage for us – lads sitting on a bus for four hours – I can tell them it is NOT an advantage. The Rangers players would have been sitting in comfort in Ibrox; in the players’ lounge, dressing room or whatever. For our players to put on the kind of performance that they did was monumental."