Dundee United manager Ray McKinnon correctly predicted his team would be in much better shape come Christmas and now he wants them to kick on in the new year.
Some three months ago and with the Tangerines sitting seven points adrift of then league leaders Hibs, “Mystic” McKinnon was an oasis of calm as he told fans to expect to see a much-improved and settled United by the time the festive season was in full swing.
Right on cue, they beat St Mirren last Saturday to move two points clear of the Easter Road men at the top of the Championship and can now keep the momentum going into 2017 if they beat Dumbarton in their Hogmanay tomorrow.
That would be an incredible 15th match unbeaten for United but the gaffer stressed that no prizes are handed out in the winter.
He said: “Being top of the league is good for the players because they have worked hard to get there.
“However, it really means nothing to be where we are at this point.
“We always said that, hopefully, we would be at a better point come Christmas-time.
“The plan was that we would get the squad together and come January be up there.
“We are where we are and we just have to keep ploughing on and see if we can stay up there.
“I have to say that I’m delighted with the players up to now.
“It is probably good there is not a winter break for our division as we just want to keep going game to game.
“It’s been great up to now and and we want to keep the momentum going if we can.”