The preparations for the play-offs start on Saturday for Dundee United, according to Blair Spittal.
Last weekend’s draw against Ayr United confirmed that the Tangerines have extended their season for at least another two games.
They’ve still got a strong chance of taking the short route, rather than the long one, to the Premiership by finishing second.
And, whatever position they end up in, Spittal believes the Tangerines need to “build the foundations” in their last three Championship fixtures – starting with St Mirren at Tannadice on Saturday.
He said: “For the play-offs, we’ve got to build the foundations now away from home, where we’re solid and can dig out results.
“A point at Ayr is better than no points.
“The boys at the back have dug us out of a hole and we need to go from there.
“St Mirren are a bit of a form team in the league. They’ve gone on a good run under their new manager.
“However, we know that at Tannadice we’re a good side. We’ve only been beaten there once all season so we’ve got to take that positivity and confidence into the game.”
Spittal added: “We’ve got to try and get consistency into our game. A couple of wins on the bounce would be nice, especially going into the play-offs, where confidence is key.
“We’ve got three more difficult games. They’re not going to be easy but we’ve got to try and get three points in each of them.”
Spittal is happy that his ankle has stood up to a lot of football recently.
He said: “I’ve come back in and played a lot of games after being out for two months.
“That was my first real injury in football and it was difficult.
“The physio said it wasn’t an injury that was going to heal just like that.
“It’s going to take time. I’ll get niggles but it’s about feeling more reassured with it.
“I am confident that when I do get knocks on the ankle I can take them.”
