Neilson is not in the party mood despite increasing title gap

DUNDEE UNITED opened up an impressive 13-point gap at the top of the Championship after edging out part-time Arbroath at Gayfield.

United head into a festive home double-header against Ayr United and rivals Dundee, and manager Robbie Neilson is confident his men can extend their eight-game winning streak.

Yesterday’s victory, courtesy of a deflected Sam Stanton strike, was far from emphatic but come May it could prove critical to United’s hopes of claiming promotion.

‘These are the sort of games and venues where you win league titles at,’ said Neilson.

‘It’s not the games against Dundee, Inverness or Ayr. It’s coming to somewhere like Arbroath on a windy day and grinding out the result.

‘We’re in a good position but we have to keep the momentum going. I’ve said to the players that they should forget about nights out over Christmas and stay focused.

‘It doesn’t matter if we are 10 points behind or 10 ahead, at a club like ours, you simply have to win every week.’

United got off to the perfect start with a goal in six minutes as Stanton’s low drive deflected off Colin Hamilton’s head to deceive Arbroath goalkeeper Derek Gaston.

At that point, you would have expected United to step up the gears and accelerate into a substantial lead. But it was Arbroath who drove forward and put United under considerable pressure in search of an equaliser.

The hosts forced a series of corners and were unfortunate not to draw level on 11 minutes as Bobby Linn’s curling freekick was turned over by United keeper Benjamin Siegrist.

Arbroath then passed up a crucial opportunity to level as Linn’s low free-kick squirmed out of Siegrist’s hands and landed perfectly but Hamilton took a fresh-air swipe from the rebound with the goal at his mercy.

United had plenty of chances in the second half to get the killer goal but found Gaston in inspired form as he saved from Ricky Little and then Linn.

Arbroath boss Dick Campbell added: ‘I’m not saying we should have won but we put in a very admirable performance.’