Jim Goodwin challenged Dundee United to hunt down the teams above them in the race for Europe after they surged eight points clear of sixth-placed Hearts with a 1-0 win at Tynecastle.
The Tannadice side secured their top-six place in the William Hill Premiership on Saturday after results elsewhere went their way.
And they had more joy on Sunday after Sam Dalby’s stunning second-half header, following an error from Michael Steinwender, was enough to secure a hard-fought victory over the 10-man Jambos and keep them on the coat-tails of Hibernian and Aberdeen.
“During the season, we’ve been in and around the top six pretty much the whole time,” said manager Goodwin. “Had we not been able to secure the top six after being there all season, it would have been a major disappointment.
“Once that got confirmed yesterday we had a good, positive meeting with the players back at the hotel and discussed the fact that the league is not over.
“Just because we have got that top six now doesn’t mean the next seven games are meaningless because we want to push for those European places now. We look at the opportunity to try and catch the teams above us.”
United capitalised on the 38th-minute dismissal of teenage Hearts forward James Wilson, who went into a challenge with Luca Stephenson with his foot raised. Goodwin did not think there was any intent to hurt his opponent but felt a red card was “probably the right outcome”.
Hearts manager Neil Critchley, whose side still have work to do to secure their top-six place, admitted the teenager mistimed his challenge by “an absolute fraction”.
“The referee is right on top of it,” he said. “In this day and age, if you mistime a tackle, then you give the referee a decision to make.
“I thought up until that point we were by far the better team. There’s an expectation on us to win today and get the job done.
“We didn’t play with any nerves, any anxiety or anything like that. We were really good. I felt we played with real purpose.
“I thought the only thing missing was the final bit. If we were shooting, we shot straight at the goalkeeper or we missed the target.
“If we’d been a little bit better in the final third, I think no-one could have argued if we’d have been two up. Then the red card has a huge bearing on the outcome of the game.
“But even then, I don’t think you could tell who had 11 and who had 10.”
