Dundee derby man-of-the-match Paul Paton has warned there is much more to come from the new Premiership leaders.
The Dundee United midfielder played a crucial role in what was a convincing win over Dundee that sets Jackie McNamara’s men up for the second part of the double-header in the League Cup at Tannadice on Wednesday.
Paton said: “At a club like this there is a lot of expectation but it’s been a good start for us.
“The results have been decent but, to be honest, I don’t think we have performed anywhere near the level that we can apart from today in the derby and Aberdeen away.
“So to be top of the table when we have not been anywhere close to how we played at times last year is pleasing.
“We have been scraping through apart from those two matches so it’s great to be where we are.
“However, we can’t get carried away or get ahead of ourselves. We know Dundee didn’t play as well as they can so we know they will be better on Wednesday.
“We need to watch what we are saying and keep our feet on the ground. We are (potentially) only one match away from a bad performance and we should acknowledge how good Dundee can be.
“We will, however, go into the cup-tie confident after this victory.”
Paton, who had a shocker against Celtic the last time United were televised live on Sky, was delighted to have shown his true self to the UK-wide audience.
“From a personal point of view the last time I was on Sky was against Celtic and I had a bit of a nightmare, didn’t do myself justice, so it was nice to make amends,” added the Northern Ireland international.
“We scored some good goals but personally the most pleasing thing was how hard we worked.
“Last week against Hamilton we were a bit lacklustre and they were all over us, whereas today we were right on it.
“It was an energetic performance. I think the midfield is where Dundee’s best players are like Jeebsy (Gary Harkins) and Paul McGowan so we knew we couldn’t give them any space.
“Thankfully, it worked for us. Our attacking players were good as well and we were tight at the back so all-round it was a good performance.”