Dundee United boss Jim Goodwin insisted his side are still in a good position in their battle against the drop, despite his side’s 1-0 defeat to St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park.
Saints’ captain Liam Gordon steered home just before half-time after United were unable to clear their lines and the visitors saw Charlie Mulgrew sent off in the second half as they failed to find a leveller.
The defeat ended a run of three successive cinch Premiership victories and Goodwin urged perspective as he praised the attitude of his side.
He said: “If we’d gone down without a fight then I would be very disappointed, but the character is there in the group.
“We are in a decent position if you consider where we were prior to the Hibs game. If I was sitting here still five points adrift, I’d be very concerned. But we’re not.
“We are still level on points with Kilmarnock, albeit Ross County have closed that gap.
“It looks like it will be between the three of us at the bottom and we have great belief in the group.”
St Johnstone manager Steven MacLean, meanwhile, played down the five point gap his side have opened up ahead of the teams below them as he praised the collective effort of his team.
MacLean, who earned a point against Hibs in his first game in interim charge, saw the Saints win at home for the first time since beating Rangers 2-1 in early November.
He said: “It’s massive but it’s only a cushion. I don’t look at other teams. People pointed out last week that teams had won under us but I’m only interested in our club and what we do.
“I think you can see that we’re improving and we’re getting better and if win our games then we’ll be fine.
“We don’t just defend as a back four. We defend from the front and also Liam Gordon has scored the goal so it’s a collective. We don’t work as individuals – we’ve got to be good as a group. I’m delighted for everybody.”
St Johnstone have another home match against Motherwell next week and MacLean – who is relishing his role as interim boss – hopes they can use Saturday’s result to build some momentum and go on a run of wins.
He added: “There’s improvement in this team. I think everybody can see that we’re getting there. We’re working hard in training. You can see slight changes that we’re making and hopefully they’re enjoying it as much as I am but I think we can get better too.
“I want to keep winning. I’m not just about one or two games. I want to go on a run and I want to make this team better like I know they can be.
“I want to concentrate on Motherwell next week. I’ll watch their games and we’ll work in training for Motherwell and try to win the game.”
Clement wants ruthless Rangers after nervy win over Hearts
Rangers boss Philippe Clement called on his team to show greater ruthlessness after they were made to work for a 1-0 win over Hearts in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday.
Cyriel Dessers put the Gers ahead after just six minutes at Ibrox, diverting James Tavernier's effort past visiting goalkeeper Craig Gordon.
However, Clement's team failed to build on that quick start and inched over the line amid a tense atmosphere, moving back to within nine points of pacesetters Celtic and Aberdeen.
Speaking after the game, Clement acknowledged his players are fatigued after a gruelling run of fixtures but added they must start taking their chances.
"We made too many wrong choices with the ball and became too sloppy," Clement said.
"It's the end of a very busy period, though, with a lot of travelling and they're all human beings, not robots.
"We missed scoring the second goal and we know that until you get that goal the other team stays in the game, so I want us to kill the belief of the opponent faster.
"I'm very satisfied with the result and the deserved three points. We didn't show the same quality in the second half and we didn't finish off the game. We had a few chances, but it stays nervous until the last second."
Rangers host Dundee United after the international break, while Celtic visit Hearts and Aberdeen travel to St. Mirren.
Celtic show 'another side' in following up Leipzig win by beating Kilmarnock
Celtic beat Kilmarnock 2-0 on Sunday to return to the top of the Scottish Premiership table, showing "another side" to their play after stunning RB Leipzig in the Champions League.
Brendan Rodgers' side defeated German side Leipzig 3-1 on Tuesday to put themselves in a strong position in the league phase of the Champions League, but their attentions returned to domestic action this weekend.
And after Aberdeen eased past Dundee, Celtic knew they must win again to reclaim top spot on goal difference.
Goals from Callum McGregor and Nicolas Kuhn ensured they did just that, although it was a battle for the champions.
"They're totally different games, more fighting football [against Kilmarnock] and what you've got to contend with," Celtic boss Rodgers told Sky Sports.
"But I thought the players were absolutely brilliant, how they had to defend the pressure. The build-up comes quite direct from behind, so they know you have to stand up to the long balls and long throws and everything else.
"The players have shown this week they can deal with all types of games. Today was a brilliant, brilliant win for us and showed another side to us."
They will next face Hearts on 23 November, after the international break.
Celtic show 'another side' in following up Leipzig win by beating Kilmarnoc
Celtic beat Kilmarnock 2-0 on Sunday to return to the top of the Scottish Premiership table, showing "another side" to their play after stunning RB Leipzig in the Champions League.
Brendan Rodgers' side defeated German side Leipzig 3-1 on Tuesday to put themselves in a strong position in the league phase of the Champions League, but their attentions returned to domestic action this weekend.
And after Aberdeen eased past Dundee, Celtic knew they must win again to reclaim top spot on goal difference.
Goals from Callum McGregor and Nicolas Kuhn ensured they did just that, although it was a battle for the champions.
"They're totally different games, more fighting football [against Kilmarnock] and what you've got to contend with," Celtic boss Rodgers told Sky Sports.
"But I thought the players were absolutely brilliant, how they had to defend the pressure. The build-up comes quite direct from behind, so they know you have to stand up to the long balls and long throws and everything else.
"The players have shown this week they can deal with all types of games. Today was a brilliant, brilliant win for us and showed another side to us."
They will next face Hearts on 23 November, after the international break.
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