Dundee United manager Peter Houston has made a case for the defence in the wake of their derby triumph.
The focus since Sunday may have mostly been on the Tangerines’ scoring another three goals against Dundee but Houston is just as happy to have kept the Dark Blues out at the other end of the pitch.
Houston said: ”To win a derby match pleases a lot of people the fans as well as ourselves.
”Now, we just want to hit a run of form and bring a bit of consistency to our game.
”A bit of consistency can shoot you right up the league and I really hope this kick-starts our season.
”The thing which has pleased me most in the last couple of games is that we’re not losing the first goal, to have to chase games, which is something we have to maintain.
”We’re a team who will always create chances and when you do that you have to make sure you keep things tight at the back.”
In central defence, Gavin Gunning and Brian McLean put in impressive performances in the absence of the injured Sean Dillon, pleasing their gaffer.
Houston said: ”I thought our two centre-halves were excellent and they mopped up everything in the derby.
”When he’s on that kind of form, Gunning can be as good as anything in Scotland in that position.
”He’s still a young boy and once he finds the right sort of maturity, he has the potential to be a great player.
”Gavin is rapid. He’s really quick in recovery and what he’s got to work on is his use of the ball at times.
”When he’s got too much time he can be a danger. But when he uses it sharp he’s good.
”He can win headers, as proved by the way he dominated Michael Higdon in our recent game with Motherwell at Tannadice, and he’s one of the strongest in the SPL with regards to height and physique.
”There’s nothing he can’t do. He just needs to be a bit more consistent and have better use of the ball.
”As for Brian, he has had to be patient. Sean Dillon’s injury has given him a chance and earlier in the season he wasn’t up to speed and was still trying to get used to the SPL again.
”He’s filled in at right-back and left-back and has never let us down.
”The big man just gets on with it. If he has to go in at left-back, he just accepts it and doesn’t have a problem.
”I’ve no fear of playing him anywhere. Now that he’s got two clean sheets in a row, his confidence will be growing.”
Houston, who still has his own contract situation to sort out, admitted he would love to find the cash to bring in another defender but accepts finances are under pressure.
He said: ”We have only got five defenders for four positions. At times we’ve had Jon Daly as a defender, which makes it six.
”At various stages we’ve had guys out and if two happened to be injured at the same time, I’d be toiling.
”We’ve had Patrick Barratt on the bench in the derby but if we had a bigger squad Paddy would, ideally, have been out on loan.
”If I could strengthen the squad in January I would but it’s going to be difficult to do so.
”Things are tight just now but we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”