Vicko Sevelj relives Dundee United nightmare debut at Falkirk as defender relishes Premiership opener

The former Croatia youth international has bad memories of facing the Bairns on the road

Vicko Sevelj goes back to where his Dundee United career kicked off this afternoon.

It is fair to say that the Croatian doesn’t have great memories of the Falkirk Stadium.

He made his competitive debut in tangerine against the Bairns last season and, by his own admission, it was one to forget.

United crashed 2-0 to the then-Championship new boys and it left Sevelj questioning whether he had the tools to make his mark in Scottish football.

Just over 12 months on and Sevelj returns to the same venue for Sunday's Premiership opener.

He has not only become one of United’s top stars but has just come back fresh from helping them to victory over UNA Strassen, setting up a Europa Conference League clash with Rapid Vienna next week.

Sevelj recalled: “I have told this story a lot (about my Falkirk debut).

“It was really difficult. I was thinking in the game that this is really tough. I didn’t know anything about Falkirk, apart from the fact they had just been promoted from the third league.

“They are now in the second league and I need to play in the first league in a few weeks, this will be a big problem for me. Am I good enough? I did ask myself that. That was the process.”

The immediate priority is putting their first Premiership points on the board and looking to replicate last season’s fourth spot.

“Last season was really good but this year I want to improve even more,” the United favourite claimed.

“I have told the boys it will be a really tough game on Sunday because they are back after a long time outside of the Premiership. It will be a really tough game. They will be flying and we all need to know how tough it will be and try to take the points at Falkirk.”

The versatile defender admitted he and United are a different proposition from their last trip to Falkirk.

“I have changed a lot in this one year,” the 24-year-old insisted. “Even with my personality, language and accent. With the game, it was a big process. I worked on myself a lot with the team and with the coaches and there has been a big improvement.

“I didn’t play as many games as I did last season before I came here. Every game was full of pressure and importance.

“I was a long way from home. I couldn’t go and spend time with my family and that makes you stronger. The whole club is like a family and it has really improved me as a person and a player.”

The last time he left the Falkirk stadium he was slightly crestfallen and European football was the last thing on his mind. Now they are gearing up for their next round qualifier away against their old foes Rapid Vienna on Thursday.

“It would have seemed impossible at that moment,” Sevelj acknowledged. “I said to the boys, who are new, that it is often like that here. We have a lot of new players, 11 I think, and we need a little bit of time.

“We maybe won’t get the time with the games but we do need time to gel. We have the first league game on Sunday so we need to find a way to speed up this process.”

After that it is a trip to the Allianz Stadion to take on the might of Rapid Vienna. United family beat them back in 1984.

Sevejj added: “It is a really big club. Everybody wants to play in those games. We gave our all against Strassen so we could play against them.”

Strassen was a potential banana skin but this new-look United got the job done. Sevelj admitted: “We all knew Strassen was a good team but we didn’t expect them to be so composed on the ball.

“For us, it is good to get some competitive games early to help us gel further as a team. I knew what we came through this season to get into Europe.

“I know what we gave and will continue to give everything that we can progress as much as we can in Europe. It is still early days in the season and I know in time we will get much better.”

Europe can take its toll on Scottish teams but Sevelj is confident United can buck that trend. He insisted: “Yes, I think we can handle it. I think so.

“We have had little problems with injuries but we have many quality players who are here. We’ll give all our best.

“It is early days. We aren’t tired. We need to make the best we can in every game both domestically and in Europe.”