Dundee United manager Ray McKinnon believes he is being rewarded for judging the character of his players as well as their ability.
The Tannadice boss was always looking for “the right type” as he overhauled his squad over the summer and he believes rating personality alongside the usual attributes of skill, strength and fitness is paying off.
United are on a a six-game unbeaten run – five wins and a draw – and they sit pretty in second spot in the Championship ahead of Saturday’s trip to Queen of the South.
That is a fixture that will require cool heads and McKinnon is satisfied that there are plenty in the Tannadice ranks.
He said: “We have a lot of good boys here who want to do well for themselves but also for the club.
“There is also a real togetherness.
“It summed it up for me against Falkirk when we had 10 boys piling on top of each other after Mark Durnan scored.
“That shows how strong the unit is.
“Character is something that has been important to me when I have looked for new faces.
“We wanted to sign the right type of players.
“Personality can be as important as ability at times because you need people to be strong in difficult situations.
“They had to handle a tricky start to the season, when we lost a two-goal lead to Raith and also lost at Dumbarton.
“Things were going against us and you needed to come through that.
“The players have stood up to the challenges but they need to keep moving forward and not drop their standards.”
