STORY OF THE MATCH | QUEEN'S PARK (H)

Dundee United survived an early scare to dispatch Queen's Park at Tannadice as they retained their place at the top of the cinch Championship.

With just 43 seconds on the clock, Spiders midfielder Jack Thomson picked out the bottom corner from the edge of the area to give the Glasgow outfit a shock lead on Tayside.

A frustrating opening half-hour from a tangerine perspective ensued, however, leading the line for the first time this season in the absence of Louis Moult, Tony Watt stepped forward to equalise for the Terrors.

A defence-splitting pass from Academy graduate Declan Glass sent Glenn Middleton racing into the penalty area, with the mercurial winger rolling the ball across the six-yard box for onrushing frontman Watt to crash home. It's the 29-year-old's first goal of the 2023/24 campaign.

The run of play continued to flow towards Calum Ferrie's goal, and the floodgates would open 12 minutes after the restart.

Glass again at the heart of the action, the midfielder picked out Watt in the middle with a low cross, whose attempted flicked finish fell into the path of Scott McMann to convert on the burst from left-back. 

On the hour-mark, United gave themselves breathing space, with Watt notching his second of the afternoon as he connected with a wicked Middleton delivery to the back stick.

Middleton would go on to grab his third assist in just 30 minutes, twisting Charlie Fox inside out before clipping the ball onto the head of Kai Fotheringham and the Academy graduate glanced a looping effort into the far corner.

The victory saw United extend their unbeaten run into double figures, with eight wins and two draws in their last ten matches.