Dundee United boss Micky Mellon vowed to encourage his players following their Tannadice thrashing by St Mirren.

Saints won 5-1 on Tayside on Wednesday to move two points off sixth-placed United in the Scottish Premiership with three games in hand.

Mellon remained measured after the heavy defeat, which came after Jamie McGrath netted two penalties for the visitors, and vowed to support his players as they try to bounce back against Hibernian on Saturday.

"We are a group that's very new to this level," Mellon told DUTV. "It's not an excuse, we are, and now it's up to me to keep moving them forward, with hard work.

"You make the players aware of the things they need to do better at and then you work with them, not against them. You work with them and you encourage them to improve because they are in the process of trying to move forward.

"We will keep attacking it and trying to get better all the time."