Ross County v Dundee United
Football : Scottish Cup Final
Saturday 15th May Kick Off 3pm

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Ross County will come into the Scottish Cup Final as underdogs but they wont be there just to make up the numbers on Saturday afternoon. Boss Derek Adams has seen his side knock out two of the SPL's big guns in Hibs and Celtic on route to their big day out in Hampden Park.

Ross County went to Hibs in the Quarter Final and when losing 2-1 got a late equaliser, while in the replay they went 1 behind and got two goals late on showing great character and a never say die attitude. They got one of the clubs best results in its history when beating Celtic 2-0 in the semi final.

The highland club is estimated to bring 15.000 supporters to the final against their more illustrious opponents. There will be much media attention surrounding them as underdogs but Boss Adams will be telling his players to concentrate solely on the football. This is new territory for his squad and he cant let the occasion get to them.

County who finished 5th in the Scottish first Division can be encouraged by the performance of Gretna four years ago and Queen of the South two years back both who got to the final as First Division clubs and only narrowly lost out. However County's end of season form has not been so good with only 3 wins in their last 13 games.

Peter Houston has done a magnificent job as caretaker boss of Dundee United since Craig Levein left to take the Scotland job. The first few weeks were tough as United took a few heavy defeats but Houston got them on a good run in 2010 where they have comfortably finished in third place in the SPL and guaranteed European football for next season.

Houston has also got Dundee United to their first Scottish Cup Final since 2005 where they lost 3-1 to Celtic. Indeed United have a history of losing Cup Finals particularly back in the 80's where they lost several including a Uefa Cup Final in 1987. Their last win in this competition came in 1994 after a 1-0 win over Rangers.

This United side has been very impressive over the last few seasons and have earned quite a few victories over both old firm sides. They beat Celtic at Tanadice in the SPL this season and knocked out Rangers of the Cup with a 1-0 win in the Quarter Final. They failed to win in their last 4 SPL games but I wouldnt take any notice of that as they had already guaranteed third sport along with their cup final appearance and were resting players.

The last Dundee United win was 3-2 at Motherwell, five games from the end and that was their eleventh game unbeaten at the time. United have been unlucky in recent years in the CIS Cup. They lost a final on penalties to Rangers in 2008 in a game they deserved to win and last year lost in the semi final to Celtic also on penalites. Maybe this is the game where they finally win their first trophy in 16 years.

ROSS COUNTY LAST 5 GAMES
Raith Rovers 4-1 Ross County
Ayr United 0-1 Ross County
Ross County 2-1 Greenock Morton
Ross County 1-2 Partick Thistle
Queen of the South 1-0 Ross County

DUNDEE UNITED LAST 5 GAMES
Dundee United 0-2 Hibernian
Hearts 0-0 Dundee United
Dundee United 1-2 Rangers
Dundee United 0-2 Celtic
Motherwell 2-3 Dundee United

THE BETTING VERDICT

I think Ross County will make a game of it but I dont see any shock here and its a DUNDEE UNTIED WIN at 8/15 for me.

Also consider doing DUNDEE UNITED HALF TIME/FULL TIME available at 13/10.

The Pick :

Ross County 0-2 Dundee United

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take DUNDEE UNITED TO WIN