Dundee United seemed unaffected by their pay-cut troubles as a Nicky Clark double earned victory over Ross County.
The Tangerines rounded off a difficult week in the best way possible as they secured three precious Premiership points.
The players’ minds were on the job in hand and they had Clark to thank for his penalty opener and scrappy second goal on 52 minutes. County sub Oli Shaw got one back for the visitors on 81 minutes but the hosts held on.
A wild wind was swirling around an all-but empty Tannadice and that made it difficult for the players to get any flow to the game early on.
Indeed, the match was 15 minutes old when United first came close through Peter Pawlett, who flicked a low cross from Luke Bolton just inches past the near post.
The home team were literally handed the opportunity to take the lead on 19 minutes thanks to a moment of madness from County player Iain Vigurs.
He seemed to be playing basketball instead of football when he handled the ball inside the box and up stepped Clark to place the ball low to goalie Ross Hoohan’s left in front of the Eddie Thompson Stand.
It should have been 2-0 on 25 minutes when Pawlett was left with only the keeper to beat after being played in by Lawrence Shankland but he curled his shot beyond the far post.
A couple of minutes later, Shankland tried a cheeky chip from outside the box but it went over the County bar.
An overhit pass into the box from Ian Harkes robbed Shankland of another great chance, with the Scotland striker having to move too far left to shoot when it should have been on a plate for him.
There was a scare for the hosts when captain Mark Reynolds needed treatment for a head knock following a clash with own keeper Benjamin Siegrist but the defender recovered.
County had a decent share of the play in the first period but they found themselves two down on 52 minutes.
It was a scrappy goal but no one at United cared as Clark’s chest helped Reynolds’ shot into the net after the skipper had pounced on the loose ball following a Pawlett freekick.
There was a debut from the bench for new Tangerines midfielder Jeando Fuchs on 77 minutes, the Camernoon international replacing Harkes.
The match wasn’t over by any means and County substitute Shaw, who had replaced Billy Mckay, made it 2-1 on 81 minutes.
He was able to run beyond the home backline to collect a pass from Vigurs and slotted past the advancing Siegrist with an excellent finish.
The Tangerines had to hang on now but they managed to do so without too much trouble.
Dundee United: Siegrist, Smith, Reynolds, Edwards, Robson, Butcher, Bolton, Pawlett (Sporle 71), Harkes (Fuchs 77), Clark (Appere 86), Shankland. Subs not used: Deniz, Powers, McMullan, King, Fotheringham, Neilson.
Ross County: Doohan, Randall (Grivosti 11), Iacovitti, Donaldson, Reid, Regan Charles-Cook (Gardyne 66), Kelly, Vigurs (Paton 66), Lakin, Mckay (Shaw 74), Stewart. Subs not used: Laidlaw, Tremarco, O’Connor, Hylton, Tillson.