Jim McIntyre content as Ross County beat Dundee United at Tannadice

Jim McIntyre applauded his players after Ross County had beaten Dundee United 2-1 to move 10 points clear of the Scottish Premiership’s bottom club St Mirren.

Raffaele De Vita's 72nd-minute strike sealed the win for County after Jackson Irvine's early opener had been cancelled out by Nadir Ciftci's penalty for hosts United in the 20th minute.

The Staggies have now won six of their last seven games and manager McIntyre had nothing but praise for his players.

McIntyre, whose team were bottom of the table at the turn of the year, said: "We scored the first goal against the run of play to be honest because United came flying out the traps.

"We had to defend for our lives at times and were under severe pressure early on but we grew into the game and in the second half I thought we were excellent.

"The lads all dug in. Jackson has been a great signing for us and he got another really good header. He's box-to-box in midfield and drives the team on."

But McIntyre is refusing to get carried away by County's recent success and believes they still have work to do to keep clear of the relegation play-off spot.

He added: "It will still go all the way to the wire. That's not going to change. I think Motherwell have signed well and have got a bit of confidence going themselves.

"It will ebb and flow between now and the end of the season and the only thing we can affect is our own results. There will be twists and turns to come but it's how you respond to that which is the big thing in football.

"We can take confidence from the quality of our play and the goals we've scored so hopefully we can keep it up.

"We'll take one game at a time as you can't look too far ahead but we're doing well right now."

Meanwhile, Dundee United boss Jackie McNamara has called on his side to rally ahead of Wednesday's derby with Dundee at Dens Park.

McNamara said: "I didn't think we deserved to lose but we lost two bad goals and that's what cost us.

"Disappointments happen in football and it's about how you respond. Now we have a massive game to look forward to on Wednesday and that's where my focus will be.

"We've got to pick ourselves up and go again. The games are coming thick and fast and we want to get back to winning ways."