Alex McLeish warned his players to keep their feet on the ground after last week's win over Hearts. Soon he will require rivets rather than words to fix them down. Despite being well below their best and running into a feisty Dundee United team on a filthy day, Hibs' superior quality saw them eke out another victory. McLeish will not like such talk, but his side is usurping Rangers as Celtic's principal challengers. They are now 10 points ahead of Dick Advocaat's labouring team. The manager's stock is rising too. "McLeish for Rangers" joked one supporter as he took his leave of Tannadice. "Kenny who?" inquired his friend. The latter barb was aimed at Kenny Miller, who departed for Ibrox last summer. His sale was down to financial necessity, yet McLeish also believed he possessed the prototype of a replacement in Tom McManus, the 19-year-old striker. He has been stressing that McManus has rough edges, but his goal here was taken smoothly.

Russell Latapy, who had been marked tightly throughout the match by John Licina, produced a moment of inspiration to lose his shadow. He then slid a ball into McManus, who waited intelligently onside to the right of United's penalty area before shooting low past Alan Combe. The exuberance of his celebration brought him a yellow card. Andy Watson, standing in at the press conference for McLeish who was driving to a function at Cruden Bay, praised the Trinidadian's contribution. "Russell was man-marked, but he has the skill and nous to cope with that. He can beat a man and still have the awareness to make a pass." The most relieved man at Tannadice as the ball hit the back of the net would have been Dirk Lehmann. The German missed an easy chance from six yards in the 76th minute after Combe had spilled David Zitelli's half-volley. Watson praised Zitelli afterwards because he was mature enough to signal to the bench that his legs had gone, which gave McManus his chance. United's spirit continues to rise, yet their luck steadfastly refuses to turn. In recent weeks, their team has taken on the look of a wartime side featuring fresh guests every week, but there has been a significant shift in policy. Six South and Central Americans received their jotters last week and Alex Smith, the Dundee United manager, announced that Gustavo Fuentes, a seventh, had also decided to leave.

Arriving in their stead was Jim Lauchlan, a defender as homespun as black pudding or Irn Bru. The former Kilmarnock defender made an impressive debut at the centre of a three-man back line. Smith must wish, though, that he could call up players of the quality of Franck Sauzee. The Frenchman remained his usual unruffled self on his 35th birthday, despite a buffeting from the wind and rain and Steven Thompson, who had some of his old pep back. "Happy Birthday Franck Sauzee", chorused the Hibs supporters. Sauzee tossed them his jersey at the end and announced afterwards that he will probably stay at Easter Road for yet another season. "Alex and I have a special relationship," he said. "We talk all the time about football and other things in life. I know what he wants and he knows what I want. We will find a deal, I think." United opened aggressively with Licina, a French centre-back, playing on the borderline of the law to keep Latapy on a tight leash. Lauchlan, Jason de Vos and David Partridge took turns to lock horns with Mixu Paatelainen, the former United striker. In midfield, John O'Neil, another former Tannadice player, buzzed around attempting to ignite his teammates. His space, too, was squeezed. Jamie Buchan and Craig Easton are too callow to be called Dogs of War - puppies perhaps - but they certainly snapped at his heels. O'Neil snapped back too, legitimately; but Matthias Jack, supposedly Hibs' midfield enforcer, was strangely subdued. Despite such spicy subplots, the game as a whole was not tasty.

Besides the wind and rain, radio waves swept around the stadium provoking incredulous looks as news of Rangers' discomfort spread. For the most part, the bulletins from Ibrox provoked more reaction than events on the pitch. United occasionally called Nick Colgan into action, but their only concerted spell of pressure came after Hibs' goal. Hasney Aljofree, adventurous throughout, swept the ball across the six-yard box, but there were no takers. Partridge miscued a free header and Stephen McConalogue demanded a save from Colgan with a lofted shot from the edge of the box. Hibs, though, are made of stern stuff when under siege these days. They have still conceded only seven goals this season and their players obviously believe in their system. Smith also wants United to keep the faith. He said: "This was by far our best performance this season. I saw the two games before I came here, and this was the best in terms of commitment and effort. There was no lack of skill. We played a lot more like Dundee United at Tannadice, and I felt the fans recognised it early. All we lacked was a winning goal that Hibs had - we matched them in every other department. "We've got to keep realising we are on the right track," he added. "Hopefully the man upstairs will start giving us a break or two." Not so long ago at Tannadice, that would have meant Jim McLean.

Dundee United: Combe; De Vos, Lauchlan, Partridge; Licina (Venetis 87min); McQuillan, Easton, Buchan, Aljofree; Thompson, Atagana (McConalogue 88min).