United goalie Richards still cheered by his clean sheet

DAVE RICHARDS confessed Saturday's grim goalless draw with Motherwell was “horrible and minging to watch”.

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There was certainly little in the way of festive fare for the 8350 crowd to get their teeth into.

An audacious lob from the halfway line by home midfielder Craig Sibbald that flew inches wide was undoubtedly the highlight on an afternoon when free-flowing football was notable by its absence.

Despite that, Terrors goalie Richards was still delighted when the final whistle blew after keeping a clean sheet - his side's first since September 23 when they beat Aberdeen 2-0.

Now the Welshman is determined to build on that firm foundation in their next game against reeling Celtic at home on Wednesday night.

He said: “It felt like we were solid defensively and it was great to get a clean sheet so that’s a good base to build on.

“That's what we just said in the dressing-room, that is the foundation now. We were hard to beat.

“It was a horrible game, probably minging to watch, but when it's tough at the moment - when we need confidence and belief as well - then to be solid and get a clean sheet, that's the foundation to kick on from.”