Alex Smith has ordered his players not to feel sorry for themselves after a battling display against Hibs was "rewarded" by a widening of the gap at the bottom of the SPL. Victories for Dunfermline and St Mirren-the two teams who started the day in eighth and ninth respectively-saw the Tangerines cast eight points adrift in the drop zone. It was a tough one to swallow for a team who had just matched Hibs in all but the goal count in losing 1-0 to an 81st-minute Tom McManus strike. Indeed, United have now strung two decent displays together for the first time in ages. They consolidated on the previous weekend’s solid Celtic Park performance by troubling a Hibees team who had demolished Hearts just six days earlier. There remains a glaring need for a goal scorer and Smith hinted he may dabble in the transfer market again following the signing of Jim Lauchlan, who made fine start to his Tannadice career.

But the signs elsewhere are good and Smith doesn’t want a spell of sulking to spoil what progress is being made. "St Mirren and Dunfermline took care of their own games and they are both doing remarkably well, but other sides lost and the three points for a win system helps you make up ground quickly. "Take St Johnstone, for example. They were supposed to be having a bad time of it but six points taken from games against Rangers and now Hearts has made such a difference to them. "If we keep showing this level of commitment and with a wee bit of good fortune it will happen for us. "When it does, teams above us will start to worry because they will know Dundee United are back on the road again. "What we have to be careful about is letting the heads go down and feeling sorry for ourselves because we have done well in our last two games but have nothing to show for it. "We have to realise that we are on the right track and eventually the man upstairs will start to give us a break or two." It would appear the supporters are beginning to think things are looking up. They gave the players enthusiastic backing throughout and applauded warmly at the final whistle.

That was something not lost on Lauchlan, who commented, "We can certainly take heart from the commitment we showed out there and I think the fans appreciated it. They only want you to give 100% and I don’t think any United player gave any less than that." And Lauchlan believes all is not lost-despite the club’s precarious position-after taking a peek at the SPL schedule. "Results went against us and it is a big gap but there are plenty of games left," he said. "I looked at the fixture list and the next six or seven games are ones we are capable of winning. "I was in a similar situation to this when I first broke into the Kilmarnock first team and the only way of it is through hard work. "There wasn’t much between Hibs and ourselves and they have been flying of late. We can take heart from the fact we matched them man for man." ©The Courier